


Emotion is the Curse of the Hunter

by DeepLittleSOB



Series: Lizzy-verse [8]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Crushes, Curses, Dream Sex, F/M, Hunters & Hunting, Occult, One Night Stands, Poltergeists, Rabbits, Sex, Sex Toys, Unrequited Lust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-18
Updated: 2015-03-18
Packaged: 2018-03-18 11:49:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 113,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3568553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeepLittleSOB/pseuds/DeepLittleSOB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When low on supplies needed to clear a house of a poltergeist, Lizzy visits a gypsy run occult shop.  The owner instantly takes a shining to her... or maybe it's that she just plain doesn't like her one bit... and after reading her future the old woman does something drastic to help Lizzy understand who it is she chooses to surround herself with.  </p><p>Old school gypsy curses are nothing to mess with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the eighth story in my series. It is a stand alone hunt that deals with gypsy curses and the occult. 
> 
> The first three chapters are bridging chapters, meant to keep you updated with everything that happens between my stories. It will cover the episodes 'It's a Terrible Life', 'The Rapture' and 'Sympathy for the Devil'.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I do not own or have the rights to anything concerning Supernatural. I am just playing in their sandbox.

_**This is my take on 'It's a Terrible Life'.** _

* * *

*****The Road So Far…*****

"Holy crap, dude," Dean Smith says with shock over what they've just witnessed as he and Sam Wesson enter his upscale, high-rise condo. The place is huge, well furnished, and quite spotless. Sam looks around quickly, recognizing that the dwelling in front of him is heads and tails nicer than his excuse for an apartment. His place is more like a closet. Dean's place is practically a museum.

"Yeah," Sam agrees with equal shock. "I could use a beer."

"Oh, sorry, man," Dean apologizes to his guest as he grabs more of his disgusting concoction from the refrigerator. "I'm on the cleanse. I got rid of all the carbs in the house."

 **"** Except for the ones I hid around the kitchen!" a voice calls out from down the hallway off the living room. A woman walks into the room and smiles over at the two of them. She has her hair up in a neat, clean bun and she's wearing an oversized, white cable knit sweater with comfortable looking black sweatpants. "Hi honey," she smiles to Dean kindly as she makes her way over to him, pressing a hand to her back all the while.

"Hi sweetheart," Dean returns and kisses her on the lips sweetly. "And hi to you too, baby doll." He runs his hand over her very pregnant stomach as he beams with pride.

"This one picked a hell of a time to go on a diet," she jokes to Sam as Dean wraps an arm around her shoulders, her hand patting his chest and giving Sam a look at her massive diamond ring paired with a diamond inlaid wedding band. "Right now, all I want is carbs. And ice cream. And chips…"

"And the whole freakin' grocery store if you could," Dean remarks, his hand smoothing over her stomach again. "Liz, this is Sam Wesson. He works at Sandover with me. Sam, my wife Elizabeth."

"Just call me Liz," she grins as she shakes Sam's hand. "And I may not have any beers to offer because the health Nazi dumped them all but I did stash away some very good, 16 year old Lagavulin if you'd like me to get you a glass."

Sam returns the smile with the kind gesture. "I would love that." Booze sounded great after the day he's had so far.

"I gotcha covered," she winks and starts to head for the kitchen, her hand once more holding her lower back.

"You're back hurting you again?" Dean questions her as she goes.

"Yeah," Liz answers as she waves a hand in the air. "It's fine."

"I still say you should quit for a while," he calls out to her.

"Never gonna happen and you know it!"

Sam looks at Dean funny and he explains. "She's an interior decorator. Just got a new job out here and she already loves it so damn much she refuses to go on leave at seven months pregnant. Says she's gonna work until the last second. She's making me nuts."

"Sounds stubborn," Sam huffs with a smile. Something about the woman was just so comforting. She seemed really nice to him.

"You have no idea," Dean answers back with honesty.

"Hey," Sam begins as he checks that Liz is out of earshot. "How the hell did you know that ghosts are scared of wrenches?"

"Crazy, right?" Dean's eyes light up once Sam gets them on the topic he's dying to talk about. "And nice job kicking in that door, too. That was very Jet Li. What are you ... like, a black belt or something?"

"No. I have no clue how I did that. It's like... we've done this before."

"Done what before?" Liz questions as she walks to the two of them and hands Sam his drink.

"Nothing, honey," Dean grins and kisses her cheek. "Sam and I just need to go over some work stuff."

Narrowed eyes looking up at him, she isn't going for it. "You do know you're the worst liar on Earth, right?"

"Look, we just had a really weird day," Sam tries to help Dean out. The sooner they can shake her the sooner they can discuss whatever it is that's going on at their workplace.

"Weird how?" Liz wonders and neither answers, though they both try.

Dean just rolls his eyes. "Unexplainable weird, ok?" he sighs, knowing her reaction will be ridiculous.

Liz's eyes light up immediately. "What did you see!?"

"Liz, don't start with this…" Dean begins but gets cut off.

"Was it a ghost!?" she lights up, jaw dropped and excitement clear in her eyes.

"Wait," Sam cuts in as she shakes his head in disbelief. "You know about ghosts?"

"That they exist, yeah!" she cheers. "My sister and I saw one when we were little. The house across the street from us was haunted."

"She claims that she and Lou saw something when they were like eight," Dean tells Sam. "But they were just kids and…"

"And are you about to tell me you don't believe me now that you saw something yourself?" Liz happily says with more excitement than she's had since she found out they were pregnant. She looks to Sam to explain. "Lou-Lou and I…"

"Whoa," Sam blinks rapidly all of a sudden when he hears Liz say the name Lou-Lou.

"What?" Dean questions, oddly worried about the man.

"Just déjà vu or something," Sam answers with confusion on his face, his mind flashing through scenes of Liz and another woman hugging, then yelling at each other, and then finally laughing while sitting in the back of an old car together. Liz was clear as day, the other woman was a little fuzzy. "It's like I should be familiar with this but I know I shouldn't be."

"That's really weird," Dean calls out despite feeling the exact same way.

"I just can't shake this feeling like I... like I don't belong here, you know what I mean? Like something is off about this. And I'm not just talking about here right now. I'm talking about my life, like I should do something more than sit in a cubicle."

"I think most people who work in a cubicle feel that same way," Dean remarks in a conceited way.

"Be nice," Liz says soothingly to him as she rubs a hand over his arm.

"No," Sam continues. "Well, look, it's more than that. Like, like I don't like my job. I don't like this town."

"Join the club," quips Liz under her breath. She moved here for Dean and his promotion and honestly she'd rather live somewhere quieter, in a house, near her sister.

"Seriously. I don't like my clothes. I don't even like my own last name. I... I don't know how else to explain it, except that it feels like I should be doing something else. There's just something in my blood. Like I was destined for something different." Sam looks to Dean with a puzzled look. "What about you? You ever feel that way?"

"I don't believe in destiny," Dean explains quickly. "I do believe in dealing with what's right in front of us, though."

"All right," Sam says. "So, what do we do now?"

"We do what I do best, Sammy," Dean grins. "Research."

"I'm calling Lou," Liz gets excited. "She's supposed to get here soon anyways. She's going to love this!" She heads back down the hallway to make her call.

"She and her sister are freakin' inseparable," Dean laments. "We moved here three weeks ago and they're already dying without each other so much that she's visiting for the weekend. It's ridiculous."

"Okay," Sam hesitantly says before turning to Dean with a look of curiosity. "Uh, did you just call me Sammy?"

"Did I?"

"I think you did, yeah," Sam tells him. "Don't."

"Sorry."

* * *

"Lou-Lou!" Liz shouts her joy as she answers the door.

"Liz!" the petite blond woman on the other side yells just as loudly before the two hug each other tightly. They act as if they hadn't seen each other in years. "Holy shit," Lou says as she pulls away from her sister and places a hand to each side of her stomach. "You're like a fucking house!"

"Wow, thanks," Liz sarcastically answers back.

"Admit it," Lou says while leaning down to be eye level with her sister's belly. "You know you're bigger than when I last saw you. Hi baby girl!" Lou kisses Liz's stomach through her shirt. "You miss me already, don't you?"

"She missed you tons," Liz jests as she pulls Lou up by the shoulders of her tan leather bomber jacket and speaks quietly to her. "So the guy that's here, Sam… go easy on him, ok?"

Lou's eyes widen and sparkle a bright blue with Liz's request. "He's that hot, huh?"

"Yeah, he's definitely your type," Liz says with a smile and an eye roll. "But just remember Dean has to work with this guy after today. Behave."

"Screw Dean," Lou dismisses as she walks past Liz, her packed overnight bag in hand. Walking into the living room she sees the two men sitting on the sectional couch.

"Hi Lou," Dean cordially greets without much excitement attached.

"Hey DB," Lou says back without much emotion.

"Would you stop with the names?" Liz asks of her sister, seriously disliking the nickname Douche Bag she's put on the man she loves. She continues to try and keep the peace, never letting herself get too angry with either of them.

Sam turns his head around to look at the new comer and feels a slight flutter when he does. Time to put on his best smile for this one. "Hi," he says while standing up and walking around to properly introduce himself. "Sam Wesson." He holds his hand out to the very attractive woman that just joined them.

"Lou Barker," she grins up to his very tall height while shaking his hand. "Mm. Damn. You know yellow is my favorite color." Her comment isn't lost on him as he's fully aware of his bright yellow work polo he's wearing.

"Down girl," Liz laughs as she walks past Lou, a hand on her shoulder a she does.

"So you work with Dean?" Lou asks while doing her best not to run her eyes over his body as badly as she wants to. She can already tell he's a little shy so she has to reel it back a bit… but just a bit.

"Yeah." Sam flashes a wider smile at her. Damn, she's cute.

"I'm so sorry," she laughs.

"Oh, come on," Dean calls over to her. "You just got here. Give it like five minutes."

"Shut up," Lou unceremoniously calls over to him before returning to Sam. "So I hear you got a sudden intro into ghosts 101."

"I think so," Sam answers. She seemed so damn familiar but he can't place why. "Um, have we met before?"

"Trust me, Sammy-Boy," Lou grins to him while running a hand over his chest. "I'd remember you."

Sam huffs with her boldness as Lou walks into the kitchen. After the sounds of rummaging through the refrigerator can be heard, Lou slams the door of it shut in frustration.

"Where the fuck is all the beer!?" she shouts out to the group while heading back into the living room and looking at Dean. "Don't tell me you're doing the girly diet thing again, are you?"

"Stop being so jealous over how much better I look than you," Dean offhandedly comments while never looking up from his laptop on the couch. "Oh, jackpot!"

"What you got?" Sam asks with excitement as he takes a seat on one side of Dean, Liz on his other.

"I just found the best site ever," Dean explains as Lou stands behind the couch and looks over Dean's shoulder. "Real, actual ghost hunters. These guys are genius. Check it out."

* * *

"That's him," Sam points to the computer screen as he's standing over Lou's shoulder and she's sitting at the dining room table. "That's the ghost."

"P.T. Sandover," Lou reads off the screen while shrugging out of her jacket, revealing her Led Zeppelin t-shirt. "Died 1916. Devoted his life to his work. Sounds like someone I know…"

"Shut it," Dean says from the couch while looking at his own computer, Liz still sitting next to him. As he searches online with one hand on the mouse he has the other resting on her stomach, something he's done constantly and absentmindedly since they found out she was having their child six months before. Some weirdo protective thing in him kicked in that day.

"No wife, no kids," Lou continues. "Used to say he _was_  the company and his very blood pumped through the building."

"Wow. Okay. So, slight workaholic," Dean comments. "Maybe he's still here, you know, watching over the company ... even killing for it."

"Plus, turns out this isn't the first time people started killing themselves in the building. Also happened in 1929," Sam comments while leaning forward over Lou's shoulder and dropping his hand over hers to use her mouse. He scrolls down the webpage as Lou smirks to herself. She could so easily get this guy is she wanted to. She just knows it.

"Yeah, but I bet a lot of guys jumped off of lots of high-rises that year," Liz adds in as she looks over to Sam.

"How many companies had 17 suicides?"

"Crap," Liz says with surprise. "That  _is_  a big number."

"Okay, so, P.T. Sandover... protector of the company," Dean starts to rationalize. "His ghost wakes up and becomes active during times of grave economic distress."

"Well, I mean, the worst time this country's seen since the great depression..." Lou starts.

"Is now," Sam finishes her sentence.

"Yeah, now sucks," Dean thoughtfully says. "My portfolio's in the sewer. I don't even want to talk about it."

"Because money  _is_  everything after all," Lou comments under her breath, eliciting a quiet laugh from Sam as he hovers over her.

"So, Sandover's helping the bottom line..." Sam reasons.

"By zapping some model employees," Dean rides his same current of thought.

"Yeah. I mean, Ian and Paul... " Sam makes a hurt expression at the thought of them. "It was like he turned them into different people."

"Perfect worker bees ... exactly." Dean nods his head at the idea. "So devoted to the company that they would commit hara-kiri if they failed it."

"One more interesting fact: the building wasn't always as high as it is now," Lou pipes in while scrolling through the structure's history she just pulled up. "Used to be only 14 floors and didn't you say that the attack was in room 1444"

"Yes," Sam answers.

"Well once upon a time, that was the old man's office," Lou tells him while craning her head up to look at the man standing behind her.

"Not bad," Sam similes down to her, a hand resting on her shoulder and complimenting her ability to find that information.

"Right back at you, big boy," Lou winks before looking back at the screen

* * *

"Where do we even get a gun?" Dean asks aloud to the group after the Ghostfaces instructional video suggests they use a shotgun with salt shells.

"Gun store?" Sam suggests.

"You get one nowhere!" Liz sternly says while pointing at her husband threateningly. "You're not getting a gun."

"Liz, it's just for…"

"It's just for nothing, honey." Liz shakes her head no. "I will not have the father of my unborn child running around his office with a fucking… freaking… gun. Guns make me nervous."

"What, you don't swear anymore?" Lou questions with a smirk. "Is that possible?"

"Trying not to," Liz explains. "Don't need my little girl's first word to be fuck."

"That'd be one hell of a first parent teacher conference when she gets older," Sam grins.

"Ha! You're funny. I think I like you," Lou laughs, making Sam look down at his shoes with embarrassment.

"Plus, isn't there, like, some kind of waiting period or something?" Dean adds in, still trying to figure out how to get his hands on the weapon they could really use. A gun sounded fun for some reason, even if he's never considered getting one before now.

"Thank God for that," Liz remarks while glaring at her husband. "You bring a gun in here, I'll kill you."

"And you think  _guns_  are dangerous?" Dean quips while giving her a forced smile, one she returns right back to him.

* * *

"Well alright," Lou excitedly says to the two men as they prepare to head out, Dean's gym bag packed with miscellaneous items that will help them go after the ghost in their workplace. "I'm ready to do this." She claps her hands and rubs them together, ready for some fun.

Sam smiles at her excitement but Dean's reaction is completely different.

"You're not coming with us," Dean plainly tells her.

"Fuck you dude," Lou says back to him in a calm-ish demeanor, as if she doesn't believe him. Plus, it's probably better if she's not a raving bitch in front of the hot guy she just met, right? "I am so going."

"Nope," Dean denies her quickly. "Sam and I got this. You just drove like nine hours to visit Liz so visit her. We'll be back later tonight."

"I swear you're just trying to make me hate you more, aren't you," Lou asks Dean as he and Sam head out the door of the condo.

"Well, that's just not possible, Louise," Dean says to her with a shit-eating-grin.

"Don't call me that," Lou grumbles angrily to him.

"Be safe, huh?" Liz requests of Dean as he leans down to kiss her before he leaves.

"Of course," Dean smiles to her.

"I love you," Liz reminds him as he heads for the door.

"You too," he quickly returns before pointing at Lou. "Don't brainwash her too much while I'm gone."

"You know I'll do my best!" Lou shouts to him as he disappears out the door. Sam turns back to look at her, sharing an apologetic smile, before following Dean out.

"You two are gonna be the end of me, you know that?" Liz complains to Lou as she drops down onto the couch, her feet propped on the coffee table and hands resting on her protruding stomach. She spins the large diamond ring around her finger out of nervous habit. "You have to start liking each other soon. I can't keep doing this."

"Aw, Liz, it's love-hate. You know that," Lou says to her sister as she sits down next to her on the couch, her head resting on Liz's baby bump.

"Feels pretty hate-hate to me," Liz complains. "He's a good guy. A really good guy. He's caring and so sweet. You know I wouldn't have married him if he wasn't."

"Yeah…" Lou trails off

"And you know how I feel about him."

"Yeah, yeah," Lou exasperates. "True love, love at first sight, angels singing, puke suddenly on my shoes… Ah! I love that." She smiles bright as she feels the baby move under her cheek. She has such love for the child she's yet to meet. Maybe she did believe in love at first sight… or kick.

"She's just showing off because she knows you're here." Liz sighs. "So, you're gonna come back up here when she's born right?"

"Liz, I wouldn't miss that for the world," Lou answers as she sits up. "Hell, I'm moving in when that happens."

"Dean will be  _so_  excited," Liz laughs at the idea. "You better be nice if you do or else  _I'll_ be the one to kick you out!"

"I promise to do what I can," Lou tells her with all honesty. "And I'm staying here for at least a month once little Louise is born."

"She's not gonna be named Louise," Liz laughs once more. "Even you hate that name."

"Yeah, I do," Lou smiles right back. "But I  _have_  to come here when she's born. Dean's always at work. Who's gonna help you at first?"

"Actually, Dean already put in for two weeks of vacation for when the baby comes," Liz informs her sister, making Lou look at her with huge surprise.

"No shit."

"Yes shit," Liz laughs. "He also read a couple baby books all on his own, went to Lamaze with me, oh and he bought the cutest little Yankees onesie…"

"He's letting you raise the kid as a Yankees fan!?" Lou asks with bugged out eyes.

"Yes," Liz smiles with utter pride in herself.

"He hates the Yankees."

"And he knows I'm a diehard," Liz beams with happiness. "See. He's pretty damn awesome isn't he?"

"He's not bad," Lou admits through her stubbornness. "Even if he did take you miles and miles away from me." She grabs the remote off the coffee table and turns on the large, flat screen TV.

"Trust me, he's gonna be a wonderful dad," Liz promises her sister. "When you see him with the baby you'll love him as much as I do."

"God, you're practically a greeting card right now," Lou complains while flipping the channels. "I'm still staying for a month though, heads up."

"Oh yeah?"

"Oh hell yeah," Lou says with a slick look. Liz looks at her with sheer curiosity. "I stole Sam's phone when he wasn't looking."

"No you didn't," Liz cracks up with the news.

"Of course I did!" she nudges Liz with her elbow. "I put my number in there and then I stole his number and put it in mine. I'm calling him tomorrow."

"Sneaky little slut," Liz cracks up at her sister's boldness.

"Dude! That man is finer than fine!" Lou smiles wide. "I just hope he can handle me!"

* * *

 


	2. Detox and Deals

_**This is my take on 'The Rapture'.** _

* * *

 

 *****Then*****  

_No, no… please! Dean! Dean, help me! Get away from me! Ahh! DEAN! NOOO!_

Cradling his head in his hands, Dean sits listening to his brother's horrified cries from the panic room that just won't seem to stop. It's torturous. They don't know how long it'll last or if Sam will even make it through, but it's the only course of action any of them could come up with. And now Bobby's even second guessing their version of detox, thinking it better to unleash his fucked up psychic brother onto the world in order to help save it instead. God damn it.

The couch dips next to him and he peels his attention off of the inside of his eyelids where all he can see is Sam's blood-smeared face after he drank that demon dry and focuses on the person next to him. Lizzy gives him a sad look and hands over one of the glasses of whiskey she has in her hands. If it weren't for her, he'd have crumbled by now. At least she agrees with him, that Sam should be locked away right now. And she's giving him the comfort he needs to wait it all out, no matter how horrific it is to take, no matter what Sam says or does while ridding himself of the demon blood.

Dean takes up the glass of whiskey without a word and guzzles a hefty gulp right down. Elbows propped on his knees as he hunches his back over, he stares down at the glass in his hands and sighs. This is where his life has led him. This. Fuck. Wasn't he supposed to be out by now? Living a quiet life in a little house somewhere with Lizzy and a couple rugrats, working a menial, safe job and getting fat and being average?

"He'll get through it," Lizzy assures with a hand rubbing over his shoulder.

"You don't know that," Dean's choked voice tells her.

"No, I don't know it. But I have faith in Sam still," Lizzy says quietly. "He's strong, Dean. He's really strong. And he's a Winchester. People tend to get outta the impossible when they have that last name."

_Stop! No, stop it! Gahh! Lizzy, help me, please! Helllllllp!_

Lizzy grits her teeth and closes her eyes. It hurt so much to hear him call for her like that. Every time he does it rips her heart in two and she has to practically tie herself to a chair to stop herself from running to him and doing… what? That was the problem. They didn't have an alternative. This was it.

_Lizzy, you have to do something, make it stop! Shit! Dean! Don't leave me here! Ahh, no!_

"I hope you're right," Dean whispers outs, another large gulp taken down. He nearly finishes his glass already but no amount of booze can ease this kind of pain. He could drink the entire damn bottle and it wouldn't do a fucking thing.

"I am right," Lizzy answers, not only trying to convince him of this but also herself.

Suddenly they hear nothing. The silence takes over the house and causes a new kind of worry.

"My turn to check on him." She pats Dean on the knee once, kisses his cheek, and she leaves him to trek down the stairs. Once at the bottom of the basement steps, she can hear Sam's voice but this time it isn't shouting in pain or crying with pleads. This time, he's just talking.

Leaning an ear to the solid metal door she holds her breath and listens.

_I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know… you don't have to tell me that. I would never want to disappoint you. Not you. Never, ever you._

Whoever he's talking to, she knows it's in his head. Sam has been going through hallucinogenic spurts where he converses with people that aren't there. She swears the first time she checked in and he was talking it was to his own self, possibly as a kid. He's lost his shit completely.

_Just… please believe me. And don't hate me. I can't live with you hating me._

Who the hell is he talking to?

_If you had been here… fuck, I miss you so much. It hurts every day still. Things would be different. So different… so much better if you were still with me._

Oh no. Lizzy tries to keep the sobs at bay as she further agonizes herself by listening on.

 _Don't look at me like that. That's not fair…. What the fuck was I supposed to do!? You were gone! You left me,_ you _left_ me _!_

She needs to leave. She shouldn't listen to this.

_I love you too much to have you say that to me! I always loved you, Lou! Always! Please believe that I did the right thing here! I can stop it from happening! I can stop it!_

She can feel the bile rising in her throat. His mind is so warped, so broken, that this is what it has created for him.

_I… Lou, please… come back. Come back to me. I need you so damn much. You're the only one who gets me and can help me. I am begging you to come back. I can't do this alone… please help me._

It's officially too much for her to take. Lizzy hightails back up the stairs, rushing to get away from his desperate pleas to a dead woman. The second she gets up the stairs and onto the first floor, Lizzy dashes for the bathroom, making it just in time to throw up into the toilet.

From the other room, Bobby hears her rushed footsteps followed by her loud retching in the bathroom. He sighs and gets up from behind his desk and makes a stop in the kitchen for a glass of water before heading down the hall to find Lizzy on the bathroom floor, knees drawn in and head bowed. Without a word, he bends at the waist and holds the glass out to her within her field of vision. Lizzy looks up to Bobby with a pathetic expression.

"Thanks," her shaking voice says as she grabs the glass. She takes a big sip and rinses her mouth, spitting into the toilet before flushing it. Great, now all three of them have seen her hurl while in an emotionally fucked up state. Hell of a track record.

"What happened?" Bobby asks gently, knowing whatever it is affected her greatly.

"Where's Dean?" Lizzy implores desperately, ignoring Bobby's question.

"He's taking a breather," Bobby answers. He holds his hand out and Lizzy takes it. Pulling her up to stand, he looks at her with a furrowed brow. "What happened down there?"

"Bobby," she cries out, the tears too easily finding her once more, and hugs tightly to her adoptive father, her cheek pressed to his flannel shirt.

"This is tough on all of us kiddo," Bobby tries to calm her as he runs a hand through her hair. "Next time, I'm checking on him, ok?"

"He's talking to Lou," Lizzy explains through her sobs. "He sees her down there, Bobby."

"Shit," Bobby responds, hugging her in tighter with the pain of what she says.

"He's begging her to come back," she keeps talking through her choked voice. "I want her back, for him, Bobby. Not even for me. Sam deserves better."

"Don't we all," Bobby sadly responds.

"No!" Lizzy loudly argues as she looks up to him within his embrace. "Sam's been through so fucking much. He's too good. And he lost her. He needs her, Bobby."

Doing all he can to hold back his own tears, Bobby runs the pads of his thumbs under her eyes to wipe away the sadness. The loss of Lou is still felt by every one of them, but no more deeply than with Sam. And for Lizzy to say she wanted Lou back only for Sam's sake and not her own… clearly Lizzy is the least selfish person he'd ever met.

"Where's Dean?" she asks through her crying as her need for him overwhelms her.

"Out back somewhere taking a walk."

* * *

Dean walks a few steps away from Castiel and sighs. He knows what he has to do in order to save his brother. It's his only option, really, but that doesn't mean it's a good option. He knows what a bad idea this is but if Sam needs him, he'll do anything he has to.

"Fine, I'm in."

"You give yourself over wholly to the service of God and his angels?" Castiel asks him.

"Yeah, exactly," Dean responds.

"Say it," Castiel commands, needing Dean to commit himself the right way.

"I give myself over wholly to serve God and you guys," Dean begrudgingly answers back.

"Dean!" They both hear her voice calling out from somewhere near the house. Castiel swallows hard as he knows that Lizzy will not be happy with what is happening right now. He hurries through to avoid her finding them.

"You swear to follow his will and his word as swiftly and obediently as you did your own father's?"

"Yes, I swear."

"Damn it, Dean!" Lizzy calls out again, her voice closer and more panicked than it was just seconds ago.

"Now what?" Dean asks quickly.

"Now you wait," Castiel begins to explain.

"What the fuck is this?" Lizzy questions when she spies them a several cars away. "Cas, what are you doing here?"

Castiel ignores her completely and looks back to Dean. "We will call on you when it's time." With that he disappears.

Lizzy jogs the rest of the way to Dean. When she gets to him she stops a few feet in front of him, looking up with her tear-reddened eyes. "I knew he was here the second I got outside. Could feel him," she explains. "Why was he here?"

"I asked him to come," Dean explains, walking past Lizzy to head back for the house and hopefully avoid any further prying.

"What did you do?" she angrily asks as she begins to put it all together.

"Nothing," Dean mutters as he keeps walking, his back to her.

"No, stop!" Lizzy calls after him as she runs and stands in front of him. "Stop!"

"What do you want, L?" Dean's expression is dark and angry, but in his eyes she sees the sorrow and emotional exhaustion in him through this whole ordeal.

"I want to know what just happened out here," Lizzy asks of him, her still watery eyes looking up at him and begging. "You're gonna help them, aren't you?"

"It'll save Sam," Dean simply put before trying to walk away from her again.

"Wait! You can't just drop that bomb on me and walk away!" Lizzy hustles to stand in front of him once more and block his way. "We need to talk about this."

"Nothing to talk about," Dean tells her. "It's done."

"And you think that you can just up and make a decision like that without even talking to me first?" She's hurt by his lack of involving her and the fact that he didn't consider her at all before committing himself to the angels.

"That's  _my_  brother in there!" Dean yells at her and points to the house.

"And I'm your girl right here!" she shouts back in his face while pointing to herself. "You just got into bed with the angels, you're gonna risk your fucking life for them, and you didn't think once to discuss this with me?"

"No," Dean growls. He sidesteps her and keeps walking for the house hoping that the third try's a charm. Lizzy's anger topples her better judgment as she runs to him and cuts off his path again. This time she lets her anger get the better of her. She lets the fist that has been itching for some action from the start of their conversation fly and she connects with his left cheek, his head whipping to the side with the force.

"I can't fucking believe you!" she fires out while pointing in his face. "You are the most inconsiderate jackass I've…"

"Inconsiderate!?" Dean asks with utter shock while his face stings from her assault. Why did he have to fall for the chick with fists of cement and an anger problem to rival the Hulk?

"Yes!" Lizzy shouts.

"Wow, do you have it all wrong, L," Dean spits back, his face riddle with ire. He just gave his life and his control over to dick angels to save his brother and she calls him inconsiderate?

"No, I have it right. You go after Lilith and try to stop her like they want you to, there's a good chance I'll have to live my life without you afterwards. And what if Sam doesn't come out of this, huh? I'll be all alone, Dean! You didn't think of that, did you!?"

Dean bites back his ire and stares her down. Not matter how much sense she's making, he couldn't care. Sam needed him. End of story as usual.

"I came out here to find you," Lizzy explains in a lower tone. "Because I heard him talking to Louie. He's losing it and he's talking to Lou, Dean. It hurt so much to hear and I needed to find comfort in you after that… and this is what I find instead?" She breathes deeply once. "What happened to doing this our way, together? You always promise me we'd get through this  _with_  each other, you and me. What happened to that and to screwing fate right in the face, huh?"

"It's a little tough to stick to that when fate has Sam's balls in vice," Dean rebuts quickly, the heat in his gut still roaring over her reaction.

"Fine. I thought we were in this fight together but I see now how wrong I was," Lizzy growls out to him. "When the angels come for you to take down Lilith, I hope you know what you're doing. Because you're gonna be doing it alone. I'm  _not_  coming with you."

* * *

 


	3. Confessions and Repercussions

_**This is my take on 'Sympathy for the Devil'.** _

* * *

 

*****And Then*****

Knocking on the door while she stands in the gritty looking hallway next to Bobby, Lizzy bounces on her heels with very nervous excitement. She doesn't know exactly what happened in the past few days, only that Sam busted out of the panic room, Dean was taken away by the angels, Lucifer was freed, and somehow they're both still alive. Having been at Bobby's for the whole ordeal, blind and horrified and anxious for days, she's shaking with happiness just to see them and get confirmation that they are in fact healthy and standing upright. The way Bobby adjusts his hat for the millionth time and smiles over apprehensively to her lets her know he's feeling the same.

Dean looks at her with relief and a hint of guilt the second he pulls the door of their motel room all the way open and she launches immediately. Clutching on to the back of his jacket and squeezing him tight with her arms around his neck, she holds on for dear life. He pulls her in until she's flush against him and he buries his face in her hair, inhaling deeply and calming with the cherry-vanilla scent of her shampoo. She's used that stuff since before they met and it's one of the most comforting and reassuring smells he knows. It never fails to take him to a place where everything is ok, safe.

"Are you alright?" she asks in a quiet voice, needing to know that his inside matches his unharmed outside.

"As I'll ever be," he answers just as softly as she frantically kisses his cheek, his jaw, and then his lips. She returns to their hug and speaks quietly into his ear, not looking for the rest of their crew to be a part of it.

"I should never have yelled at you," Lizzy tells him. "I shouldn't have fought with you like that. I took it too far and I was wrong." After their fight in Bobby's scrapyard everything evolved so fast that they never had a chance to resolve anything. One of the last conversations they had before he was taken was a fight in which she hit him. The burden of that has been killing her ever since.

"No you weren't," Dean admits after having had plenty of time to think the whole argument over. "I should have talked to you first before doing what I did. You're part of my life, hell, you are my life. You were completely right."

"I jacked you in the face."

"Yeah, I know," Dean responds with a slight smile. He deserved it.

"I'm so sorry."

"Me too."

"God, it's so good to see that you're ok," she says before kissing him with everything in her, desperate to remind him that, even if they parted on angry, disagreeing terms, she still loves him more than anything… even if he made some regrettable decisions without her. "I love you so much."

"You too," he tells her, letting her go. "You know that."

"I was so scared I wasn't ever going to be able to tell you that again," she says up to him, her hands cupping his face and pulling him into another kiss.

"Nah," Dean makes light of everything as she backs away. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, L."

She pecks him on the lips one last time before walking away and heading towards Sam who's timid and guilty mind makes him hang back. While Bobby hugs Dean hello, so happy to see his son still breathing, Lizzy points accusingly at Sam on her way over to him.

"Don't you ever,  _ever_  scare me like that again," she says while jogging swiftly to him, her eyes watering and voice stern.

"I'm so sorry," Sam says sincerely as Lizzy jumps up onto him, arms and legs wound tightly around his torso.

"I know you are," she tells him, a hand pressing to the back of his head and her chin resting on his shoulder as she revels in the ability to even hug him again. The way he left, the condition he left in, she was sure he was gone for good. "Shit, I've been a wreck for days thinking about what could have happened to you!"

"I should have stayed," Sam admits, the guilt crushing him more with her words. "I never should have left."

"No you shouldn't have," Lizzy confirms in a tone that lets him know she's no longer angry at what he did. Of course she only knows Lucifer got out… not how. "I thought I'd lost you, kiddo."

"Don't call me kiddo," Sam says with a slight smile. "And I really am sorry."

"I'm just glad you're alive." She jumps down and looks up at him, placing a hand lovingly on his cheek. "Please, don't ever do anything like that again. You can't do that to us."

"I won't," Sam promises, knowing how wrong he's been and that he will most certainly learn from his mistakes.

"It's just good to see you boys all in one piece," Bobby announces while he moves in and hugs Sam.

"You weren't followed, were you?" Dean has to ask after he shuts the door.

"You mean by angels, demons, or Sam's new superfan?" Bobby smirks and Sam laughs with a little embarrassment. Becky had just dropped by. So awkward.

"You heard?" Sam asks, knowing the answer already.

"I heard, Romeo," Bobby pokes fun.

"How does she even know about you to be a fan of yours anyways?" Lizzy asks with happy curiosity. Dean and Sam share a swift nervous glance. They never told her about the Supernatural book series as she wasn't with them when they discovered it. Even though she wasn't heavily involved in the series at the point in which it stopped being published, they didn't want to stress her out any more. She had enough on her plate without having to know about the available-countrywide recounting of her best friend's death along with many of the times she spent alone with Dean written in graphic detail.

"She's a friend of Chuck's," Dean explains away. They did tell her about the prophet, just not that he published what he knew. "He tells her everything apparently."

"Ah, weird…" Lizzy answers back before Bobby jumps in.

"So...sword of Michael, huh?"

"You think we're talking about the actual sword from the actual archangel?" Dean wonders aloud, still unsure of what this whole thing is about.

"You better friggin' hope so," Bobby answers while opening a book he brought in to a painting of Michael surrounded by other angels. In this painting, Michael is winged, clad in armor, and the other angels are depicted as young, cherub looking and naked with wings.

"What are those, cupids?" Lizzy wonders as she comes to stand around the table with the rest. She stands at Dean's side and circles her arms around her waist. She came once again too close to losing him and, once again, she needs contact with him. It's her reminder that he's made it back to her. Dean tucks her under his arm that he brings around her shoulders.

"No, just regular-ass angels. And that's Michael," Bobby explains, pointing to the larges being on the page. "Toughest son of a bitch they got."

Sam flips to another page, Michael once more being depicted in the romantic style of the past.

"You kidding me?" Dean says with disappointment and disgust. "Tough? That guy looks like Cate Blanchett."

"Well, I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley, believe me," Bobby warns. "He commands the heavenly host. During the last big dust-up upstairs, he's the one who booted Lucifer's ass to the basement. Did it with that sword." Bobby points to the sword in Michael's hand. "So if we can find it..."

"We can kick the devil's ass all over again," Sam finishes.

"All right, folks. We have a lead," Lizzy says with happiness. "So, where do we start?"

"Divvy up and start reading," Bobby says while gesturing to the stockpile of books. "Try and make sense of Chuck's nonsense."

Lizzy and Dean each choose a book to start with while Sam makes his way to the pile but stops. He just stares at them while thinking, conflicted by what both Lizzy and Bobby don't know.

"Sam-I-Am? You all right?" Lizzy asks while walking to him, giant book in hand.

"No, actually," Sam says with a pained expression. "Um, shit. This is all my fault. I'm sorry."

"Sam..." Dean warns as he feels no one needs to know what happened. Sam's guilt is already enough. He doesn't need to have Lizzy and Bobby looking at him with any form of negativity. Sam just keeps right on going, needing to get it off his chest.

"Lilith did not break the final seal," he admits. "Lilith was the final seal."

"Sam, stop it." Dean gets ignored again.

"I killed her, and I set Lucifer free."

"What!?" Lizzy practically shouts at the exact same time as Bobby responds with his own question.

"You what!?"

"You guys warned me about Ruby, the demon blood, but I didn't listen," Sam explains, his self-blame now spilling from his lips like a water fall. He looks at Lizzy with his sad puppy eyes, knowing he's let her down the most. She tried harder than anyone to keep him on track and away from all that Ruby brought him into and she did it in a way in which she never hurt him or stopped being nice to him. He now knows how wrong it was of him to never take her help. "I brought this on."

"Oh, Sam," Lizzy sadly coos, feeling awful for him already. She knows he'll beat himself up over this, and he absolutely should, but a new wave of worry overcomes her. When Sam places self-inflicted blame on himself, he becomes a whole new level of mess. Being mad at him now would do nothing to help fix the massive issue at hand. It would just debilitate a much needed hunter at a crucial time and put more unnecessary hate into her own heart.

"You're damn right you didn't listen," Bobby angrily spits out. "You were reckless and selfish and arrogant."

"I'm sorry," Sam repeats, the hulking man looking about two inches tall in the moment. Lizzy walks over to his side in support.

"Oh, yeah? You're sorry you started Armageddon?" Bobby keeps going in his even louder tone. "This kind of thing don't get forgiven, boy."

"Bobby!" Lizzy shouts with horror at his words. She grabs Sam's hand tightly as Sam's face drops completely. Bobby was his father and the way he's reacting is so much worse than Sam could have hoped for.

"No, Lizzy. We tried so hard to reign in this fool and this is what we get for it?" Bobby angrily says to her before looking back at Sam. "If, by some miracle, we pull this off...I want you to lose my number. You understand me?"

As Sam nods solemnly, Lizzy just stares at Bobby with a dropped jaw. She's stunned by his cold demeanor towards his own family. She looks to Dean for help but instead she gets none. Just absolute silence.

"There's an old church nearby," Sam quietly says in a meek tone. "Maybe I'll go read some of the lore books there."

"Yeah. You do that," Bobby responds with fire behind his words.

"I'm coming with you," Lizzy says to Sam quickly before grabbing Sam's laptop she brought for him and a couple of the lore books from the pile. On her way to the door she glares at Bobby with absolute disdain before following Sam out and slamming the door behind her.

Not speaking once, Lizzy follows Sam to the Impala. Both get in, shutting the creaking doors behind them, and sit for a beat in the silence. What a fucking disaster, they both independently think to themselves.

"He was way out of line," Lizzy says to him while staring into her lap. She doesn't want to see his face anymore, the broken expression on it already nearly undoing her while they were back in the room.

"No he wasn't," Sam says quietly, his voice completely giving him away. Now Lizzy is sure she's going to avoid viewing him. She knows that tone. The silent tears have already started.

"Then he was at least a little out of line," Lizzy sternly rebuts. "Family doesn't give up on each other like that. They stick together, no matter what."

"But I'm one shitty family member," he tells her and out of her periphery she sees his hand come up to wipe his face.

"So the fuck what?" Lizzy loudly says turning to look at him for once. She was right. His cheeks are shining with the trails running down them. "No one is perfect. I haven't been a perfect family member..."

"Yes you have," Sam corrects her quickly. No one has been as good to them as Lizzy has, Sam is sure of it. She sits quietly for a second and thinks it over.

"Ok, so I'm a bad example since I'm so freakin' awesome," Lizzy admits with a small grin. "But Dean definitely has fucked up here and there."

"But anything bad he ever did was for his family's benefit in the end," Sam continues to argue.

"Wasn't what you did for your family?" Lizzy challenges. Sam stays silent and Lizzy tries again. "Why did you do it all in the first place?"

"To kill Lilith," Sam answers quickly. It was an obvious answer.

"Because you were sure Dean couldn't," Lizzy finishes for him. "He's had a tough year to put it lightly and hell still has its burning claws dug deep into him. You started on this whole demon-blood-laden road to honor Dean's memory and get the vengeance his life deserved. You then kept going so that Dean didn't have to be one stop it because you knew he couldn't. You were protecting him."

Sam nods, liking this new perspective. Having looked at it as only an angry, obsessive, and egotistical thing he forgot what set him on this path in the first place. Dean. He did it all for his brother.

"Now I'm not saying you go around announcing this in front of him right or anything like that," Lizzy advises.

"Oh no, I won't," Sam promises with a hint of a smile.

"But he'll get that sooner or later," Lizzy explains. "Bobby too."

"I don't know about that," Sam worries. "Bobby's pretty fucking pissed."

"And I could fucking kill him for the way he spoke to you," Lizzy angrily comments. "But he needs time."

"And why don't  _you_  need time?" Sam asks with curiosity, shocked to have even one of them on his side so quickly. "Why do you get it so easily?"

"I'm a glass half-full kinda gal, I guess," she says jokingly while pulling out her phone and opening it. Lizzy starts typing away.

Sam wipes a hand down his face one last time, looking to get rid of the last of the evidence of his emotional moment and he starts the car.

"You shouldn't be this ok with everything," Sam sighs. "I brought on the fucking Apocalypse."

"Eh, I once banged a dude named Jethro with a missing front tooth and a mullet down in Arkansas while completely shitfaced. We all make mistakes," Lizzy smiles warmly over to him while pushing send on her text to Dean.

_Sorry I left. Couldn't let him leave alone. Wish I could have stayed with you._

"How is that remotely the same?" Sam wonders as he pulls out onto the street.

"You didn't see the guy," Lizzy explains jokingly. "I'd say that letting that dude in is just as bad as letting Satan out."

Sam huffs a laugh and shakes his head. She got him to smile. "Thanks, Lizzy."

"No problem, Sam-I-Am," she says back, happy to help him and just plain have him back. Maybe this was a new start for them and she'll get the old Sam back. She can only hope and keep looking on the optimistic side. If she looks too hard at the terrible side, she'll end up like Dean and Bobby right now. Sam needs to have at least one person holding him up right now or they could lose him all over again.

Her phone beeps as they make their way around the town, heading for the old church he saw on the way in.

_Thank you for somehow being able to be good to him after what he did. He needs that. You can make it up to me later…_

* * *

*****And Then Again*****

"He's a fucking catastrophe in there," Lizzy comments sadly as they walk out into the hospital parking lot toward the Impala, leaving Bobby in his room to wheel around and yell at anything that comes to check on him.

"I would be too if I was told I wasn't gonna walk again," Sam remarks with a wrinkled expression. Seeing Bobby like that hurts all three of them horribly. They've always looked at him as larger than life, indestructible, their old man who had all the answers and could kick anything's ass. This however, is not something they were prepared for.

"I'm just really worried about him," Lizzy adds, looking back up at the large building. With everything Bobby's done in his life, this is very much undeserved. "And how the hell did that even happen? He was just stabbed…" Lizzy stops mid-sentence and rolls her eyes before loudly greeting the incoming angel. "Hiya Cas! Forget something?"

"Yes," Castiel flatly responds when he appears standing between the walking group and the car. Without warning he steps forward and places a hand to Lizzy's chest.

"Ow!" Lizzy says with a painful expression while recoiling away. Eyes wide, she holds her ribcage and looks at him with shock. "Aw. Damn it, what the hell was that?"

"Insurance," Castiel simply says. "I can't stay long but I had to ensure that you were hidden if you were to be with the Winchesters."

"Yeah… right…" Lizzy answers, still not understanding what just happened. Looking over to Dean he appears to be in the know so she doesn't bother asking. He'll explain it to her later.

"Have you told her what you know?" Castiel asks Dean, hoping that some things have been explained to Lizzy so that he can cut to the chase.

"Yeah, she knows," Dean says unhappily.

"Very well. I must now inform you of what _I_  know," Castiel responds while looking over to Lizzy. "As Dean is the Michael sword, you are its sheath, figuratively."

"Oh there's definitely a dirty joke in there somewhere," Dean interjects quickly.

"Well you do stick your sword in me often enough already," Lizzy responds with a shit-eating grin that Dean returns.

"Maybe sheath is the perfect job for you," Dean returns with a smile.

"Alright, joking aside, what the hell does that mean, Cas?" Sam wonders, not in the joking mood the other two hunters seem to be in. They have the worse timing.

"Lizzy should be considered as the beholder of the sword," Castiel explains further and turns to Lizzy. "You hold on to it…"

"Again, that's just dirty," Dean interrupts.

"And you protect it," Castiel keeps talking while making an annoyed expression aimed at Dean. "And when the time comes, you let it out for battle."

"Let it out?" Lizzy asks incredulously.

"So what, she's my protector?" Dean asks, not prepared to go with this idea.

"In a way," Castiel tells him. "From what I've been allowed to know, she will be the one to keep you safe until the time comes to let you do what you're destined to."

"What if I don't agree to let him go?" Lizzy challenges, knowing she'd never let him take on Michael and be involved with the Apocalypse if she had the choice.

"You will," Castiel answers. "On all accounts that I can see, you will let him do this."

"Fuck that noise," Lizzy responds swiftly. "I'm keeping him."

"Yeah, if you think she's just gonna let me be Michael's bitch, maybe you don't know Lizzy all that well," Dean tells Cas. "She's a little attached to me by now."

"She will let you do what you must, I am certain of it," the angels tells her, sorrow in his voice. "I'm sorry I have to inform you of this."

Castiel leaves them after his apology. Lizzy looks around and holds her hands out to the sides.

"That's it?" she shouts loudly into the air. "Good to see you too, Cassie!"

"He's really gotta stop dropping in like that just to fuck with us and then jet," Dean remarks. "It's getting old fast."

"And once more we're left asking ourselves what the fuck after he's gone," Lizzy adds, hands on her hips with her frustrations.

"You know, I was thinking," Sam starts.

"That's never good," Lizzy gripes up to him with a wink.

"Funny," Sam caustically responds before continuing on. "Maybe we could go after the Colt."

"Why? What difference would that make?" Dean asks him, not making the connection.

"Well, we could use it on Lucifer. I mean, you just said back there…"

"I just said a bunch of crap for Bobby's benefit," Dean admits as he stops walking, making Sam and Lizzy both pause and look at him with surprise. His little pep talk in Bobby's hospital room was all for Bobby's benefit. The amount of it he actually believe was about none. "I mean, I'll fight. I'll fight till the last man, but let's at least be honest. I mean, we don't stand a snowball's chance, and you know that. I mean, hell Sam, you of all people know that." He starts walking towards the car again.

"Dean..." Sam's hurt voice calls after him and gets his brother to turn back. "Is there something you want to say to me?"

Dean looks to Lizzy quickly, knowing that he has to be honest here but also knowing that she'll be upset with him for saying what's on his mind. To his surprise, Lizzy nods to him to go ahead. She knows the air still needs to be cleared between them and maybe her being there while he admits how he feels will help Sam in the long run. Plus, as nice as she's been to Sam in order to keep him from running off, she herself has her own set of doubts about him after all this.

"I tried, Sammy," Dean starts to let it all out. "I mean, I really tried. But I just can't keep pretending that everything's all right because it's not. And it's never going to be. You chose a demon over your own brother, over L, over all the family you got left… and look what happened."

"I would give anything, anything, to take it all back." Sam's worried and ashamed expression proves his sincerity.

"I know you would. And I know how sorry you are, I do. But, man... you were the one that I depended on the most and you let me down in ways that I can't even..." Dean pauses, words failing him in the moment. "I'm just… I'm having a hard time forgiving and forgetting here, you know?"

"What can I do?" Sam pleads.

"Sam-I-Am, honestly… there's nothing you can do," Lizzy jumps in to help Dean explain knowing how hard this is for him. "You just have to prove over time that you're with us again. You have to re-earn our faith in you."

"No," Dean goes back on what Lizzy says. "It's more than just time. I just don't...I don't think that we can ever be what we were. I just don't think I can trust you."

Sam's shocked and hurt face devastates Dean as the older brother shakes his head before walking to the car. Lizzy steps next to Sam's frozen place and rubs his arm as a show of support.

"Give him time," she reminds him, whispering up to him. "He's still your brother. It'll get better."

"It won't go back though," Sam says quietly before following Dean's path to the car and sitting in the backseat, assuming Dean would rather have Lizzy in the front next to him.

"How the fuck do I fix this?" Lizzy worries to herself before jumping in the car.

* * *

The three hunters are taking a pit stop in an abandoned lot in East Bumfuck, America. Dean's under the hood of his car checking out a new rattling sound his baby started making, Lizzy is sitting on the ground with her back against the side of the Impala, and Sam has taken a seat on their cooler full of beer, a bottle in one hand and War's ring in the other.

"So," Dean pops his head out of his car and looks over to Sam while wiping the grease off his hands with a rag. "Pit stop at Mount Doom?"

"I say we hold onto it," Lizzy speaks up from her shaded spot as she clicks away on Sam's laptop resting atop her stretched out legs. "Never know when something like that might come in handy. We could keep it a Bobby's, play it safe." She takes a swig of her beer sitting on the pavement at her side before putting it down and continuing her online research.

"We could do that," Dean answers her without looking away from Sam's obviously troubled face. When his brother looks up to him and opens his mouth to speak, Dean cuts him off. "Sam, let's not." He thinks he knows what Sam is about to say anyways. No one needed to hear the apologies again. Wouldn't change anything anyways.

"No, listen," he asks, looking to Lizzy to make sure he has her attention also. "This is important. I know you guys don't trust me right now."

Dean immediately looks away. No shit, he thinks to himself.

"Maybe not yet," Lizzy tries to lighten things for him.

"And you shouldn't," Sam agrees. "Just, now I realize something. I don't trust me either."

Lizzy and Dean share a worried look before focusing on Sam again.

"From the minute I saw that blood on that knife, only thought in my head..." Sam doesn't finish the statement. They know what he was going to say. "And I tell myself it's for the right reasons, my intentions are good, and it, it feels true, you know? But I think, underneath... I just miss the feeling."

Lizzy audibly groans her sadness and disappointment in what Sam tells them.

"I know how messed up that sounds, which means I know how messed up I am," he continues. "Thing is, the problem's not the demon blood, not really. I mean, I, what I did, I can't blame the blood or Ruby or...anything. The problem's me. How far I'll go. There's something in me that...scares the hell out of me. In the last couple of days, I caught another glimpse..."

"So what are you saying?" Dean asks, trying to cut to the chase. It's hard to hear Sam ramble like this so he'd rather get to the point of all this confessing."

"I'm in no shape to be hunting. I need to step back, 'cause I'm dangerous. Maybe it's best we just...go our separate ways."

"No," Lizzy determinedly says.

"Lizzy…." Sam tries but she's as persistent as ever.

"Leaving and being without your family to help you along the way, especially at a time like this, won't help you at all," she argues. "You need to stay."

"L, the man has a mind of his own," Dean says, not exactly hating the idea of time away from Sam. "If that's what he needs…"

"It's not," Lizzy fights back. "Sam, the last time you left us, look what happened. I'm not saying I think you'll cause more huge damage, I just think you're better when you have Dean and I around."

Sam attempts to rebut her but it was no use. When her mind is set, it's like it's set in stone.

"Compromise," Lizzy attempts. "I got a call today from an old hunting friend of Lou and mine. It's a poltergeist in Wyoming that is royally fucking with a little kid. You come with us, help us out, and after if you still think you need to back off then I won't say a word."

Both men grow silent as they contemplate the deal Lizzy makes. Seemed fair. They could test the waters a little longer, see if there was a way to work together, and if not there was a way out.

"Ok," Sam agrees, even though he'd rather leave now. "I'll stay for now."

Lizzy smiles wide. "Good."

* * *

 


	4. She's a Black Magic Woman

* * *

*****NOW*****

Standing in front of the small, main street shop, Dean eyes the cobweb-coated storefront window with suspicion. Faded, heavy red curtains frame the large, dirty glass pane and the lettering on it is in a language that neither he nor Lizzy can read. In the bottom left corner of the glass is a symbol of a crescent moon in a very distinct style. The inside of the store looks dark and vacant despite the open sign hanging on the door.

"You sure this is the right place?" Dean asks while standing next to Lizzy on the sidewalk, hands in his jean pockets.

"Yup," Lizzy responds, looking down one more time at the scrap of paper in her hand. "This is definitely the address Bobby gave me on the phone."

"And how important is it that we get this stuff?" Dean implores with a scrunched up face. After taking one look at the place he now wants to avoid having to go inside at all costs.

"Oh, I don't know, Hot Shot," Lizzy looks to him with annoyance in his hesitance. "How important is it to you that poor little Nathan goes to bed tonight without fearing for his life?"

"Alright, alright," Dean laments. "I get it. You're right. It's just that we've been to a lot of creeptastic places for supplies before, but this one takes the taco."

"Just give it a chance, dumb-dumb," Lizzy asks of him while reaching for the handle of the front door. "Every gypsy place I've ever been to has been run by some good, solid people with more supernatural knowledge than either of us combined." She opens the door with a jingle of the bells hanging from it and walks through, holding it behind her for Dean to follow after.

"Doubt it," Dean mutters to himself while stepping inside. The dank, very small and quite barebones shop gives off an ominous vibe. While walking closely behind Lizzy as they make their way to the back counter, he surveys the place. Practically empty wooden shelving covers the side walls, more cobwebs hanging from each shelf along with a few dead roaches here and there. The thick layer of dust covering everything gives the place its overall unclean feel. There is not a single light on in the place, only what seeps through the front display widow keeps the store from being in total darkness. Peering at the small circular table with a red tablecloth on it in the front, Dean sees a small wooden chair to either side of it that look like they'd buckle under very little weight. Then the odor of the place hits him. "What the hell is that smell?"

"It's nothing," Lizzy rolls her eyes as she tries to brush his comment under the rug when she hears someone coming from the back room to greet them.

"It's like dead animal and mold," Dean remarks while scrunching up his nose.

"Shut up about the smell," Lizzy quickly warns before the store employee can hear them.

"And feet," Dean adds quickly before an elbow lands just hard enough into his ribs to keep him quiet.

"Drop it," Lizzy whispers with a face that meant she was serious just as an elderly woman makes her way to them. She takes her time getting to the old wooden counter opposite them, coughing loudly into her weathered, once white but now yellow handkerchief. Lizzy smiles warmly despite it all. "Hello there."

The woman just peers at the two of them from under her scarved head, not saying a word. Her frail hands rest gently on the counter as she continues to study them. Looking at Dean first, she gives him a weary look with her pale blue and murky eyes. It's a look of curiosity but not particularly a friendly brand of curiosity. He swallows hard as she begins making him highly uncomfortable with the judgmental expression on her rough, blemished, and creased face. Shifting on his feet with an awkward grace, he feels compelled to say something.

"Hi," he tries with a fake smile. On the inside he's grown nervous with her silence and scrutinizing glare. "We were hoping you had some items we're looking for."

She makes a thick sound of disgust low in her throat. Once her cloudy eyes are done looking him over, her sights travel slowly over to Lizzy standing next to him. The old woman's expression softens as her mouth turns up ever so slightly while staring into the hunter's eyes. Lizzy smiles back, unsure of what else to do. With the change in expression, the woman points a shaky, gnarled finger at Lizzy's chest and lets her slight grin turn into a full blow smile. Missing teeth and darkened enamel aside, Lizzy finds herself oddly comfortable with the unique character they've come across.

"We have a list of what we need if that helps," Lizzy explains, putting an unfolded paper on the counter and pushing it halfway across the splintered surface. The gypsy woman places the finger that had been pointed at Lizzy onto the note and slides it the rest of the way to herself. She lifts it slowly and holds it very closely to her face. Lizzy swears her eyes turn to a crystalline blue as they read over the note. Once she's read the list of items, she glances over the paper at the two people that she now knows as knowledgeable in the supernatural with once more hazy eyes. She nods slowly to both of them with a suddenly softer demeanor before shuffling her way into the back room once more, coughing into her cloth the whole way.

"What the fuck was that about?" Dean leans down and whispers to Lizzy once the woman was out of sight.

"No idea," Lizzy answers back, not understanding what is happening any more than he is.

"And why the hell did I get the stink eye?" Dean questions further with the insult he feels. He looks around again and picks up one of the only small glass jars in the entire storefront off of a nearby shelf. It has something ground into a fine, brown power in it.

"'Cause she's a good judge of character," Lizzy jokingly explains away.

"Ha-ha," Dean mockingly laughs a childish answer. "I'm just ready to get the hell outta here before she hate-rapes me with her weird-ass eyes again." He opens the lid and takes a sniff. "Ah! No!" he immediately holds the jar away from his face at an arm's length. "Jesus! What is that!?"

Lizzy makes a face of disgust as she takes the jar from Dean and puts the cover back on it. "I don't think you want to know."

"Gaah, it burns," Dean complains as he pinches his nose and squeezes his eyes shut.

"Don't be so dramatic," Lizzy asks of him with a laugh as she puts the jar back. "She's clearly helping us out so be nice, huh?"

"She's helping  _you_  out," he rebuts with a wipe of his now watery eyes. "Me she just wants to kill in my sleep."

"Fine, how about this; you be nice to her right now…" Lizzy starts as she wraps her arms around his middle. "And I'll be  _really_ nice to you later." She grins devilishly up at him while wagging her eyebrows.

"You would have done that anyways," Dean calls her out as his arms wrap around her shoulders.

"Yeah, probably," she laughs, pressing up on her tiptoes to kiss him quick. "But seriously, stop being mean. As soon as she gets back we pay and split."

"You're too fucking nice sometimes," Dean tells her, not understanding how someone can always be so positive about others, especially creepy others.

"And you're too fucking grumpy," she says while grabbing his ass hard with both hands. Dean jumps exaggeratedly with the grip on him and she giggles before kissing him again.

The elderly woman clears her throat when she suddenly appears back behind the counter. They both twitch with the surprise as neither heard her coming. Lizzy immediately pulls her arms off of Dean and Dean brings his hand to his lips to wipe off the lip gloss now on them.

"I'm sorry," Lizzy apologizes for her inappropriate display. "That was rude of us."

The woman stares at her while pushing the small paper bag filled with several items across the counter.

"How much do we owe you?" Dean asks while taking out his wallet. He's beyond ready to shag ass out of there.

Walking slowly around the counter, the old gypsy makes her way to Lizzy. She takes the hunter's hand in her wrinkled one and closes her eyes. After a few seconds she opens her eyes again with a look of surprise and shuffles her feet to the small table in the storefront corner, pulling the hunter along with her. Lizzy doesn't argue, just lets herself be led. Her curiosity is completely piqued by now and unlike Dean, she feels ok enough about the woman to go along with her.

The gypsy nods to one of the empty chairs, silently indicating for Lizzy to take a seat. She does as she's asked while the hunched over form of the old woman gradually lowers into the opposite side. Dean moves to stand behind Lizzy's chair, his hands on his hips as he awkwardly looks on. Uncomfortable isn't good enough to describe how he feels about all this.

Taking a deck of tarot cards off of a shelf on the wall behind her, the woman blows on them and makes a cloud of dust float Lizzy's way. As Lizzy coughs a little with the unintentional assault, the gypsy places the cards on the table before closing her eyes, a hand palm-side down on the table to either side of the deck. Her voice can be heard for the first time, low and raspy, as it mutters words in her native tongue that Lizzy and Dean cannot decipher. Once done, she looks back up at Lizzy with her cloudy eyes.

"Dukkering," she says to Lizzy one time before pushing the deck across the table.

"You want me to shuffle these?" Lizzy asks sweetly, receiving a single nod of the head from the elderly woman. Lizzy shuffles the cards, Dean watching carefully with a very concerned look on his face. The fact that this woman so clearly has a need to make Lizzy sit through a psychic reading unnerves him. First off, Dean's always thought readings to be absolute crap and total cons. Secondly, the vibe he's getting from the gypsy isn't exactly a positive one. This isn't good, he can tell already.

Once done shuffling, Lizzy hands back the deck.

"I don't know about this," Dean says very quietly to Lizzy as he leans down to her ear.

"Shh," Lizzy shushes him, now enthralled by the woman. Clearly she has something to share with Lizzy, a need to tell her fortune, and she's in it to win it. Curiosity was always a weakness of Lizzy's, even as a kid.

Peering across the table to Lizzy, the gypsy deliberately pries the top car off of the deck and places it on the table. The card is facing upright to the mysterious woman and it has two people in an embrace on it.

"Lovers," the woman's rough voice explains in English with a thick accent. "Your love is great, unyielding, very powerful."

"Sounds right to me," she informs with a warm grin. When Lizzy loves someone or something, she loves fiercely so the woman is spot on so far.

"You love him," she point upward to Dean with her quaking finger.

"Yes," Lizzy confirms, still smiling. "Very much so."

The woman once more makes her same sound of disgust she had earlier when evilly eyeing him.

"He's a good man," Lizzy reassures as she tries to stick up for Dean. For whatever reason this woman is very weary of her guy and is not saying why.

"A good man," she starts, then wags her finger at Lizzy. "Is not always good."

Wide eyed, Lizzy just stares at the woman who seems so sure of her words. "But he is good. He's very good to me, and for me."

"Now he's good," the woman confirms. "Later…" She once more makes her throaty sound of disgust and Dean's angered.

"A card told you all that about me?" Dean defensively and defiantly asks.

The woman glares at Dean with utter abhorrence while flipping the next card and placing it just below and to the right of the Lovers card.

"High Priestess," the woman huffs out while pointing to the card that is right side up. "You had a time of serious contemplation."

"That makes way too much sense," Lizzy tells her honestly.

"It was in the past," the woman further adds. "Not long ago."

"Yes," Lizzy agrees, feeling a chill over her accuracy. Lizzy just a few months back had taken time away from the road and from Dean to contemplate their future, their relationship, and her meaning in life. After finding out that she was specifically engineered for Dean she needed to separate herself in order to figure just how to move on with their relationship. This lady is damn good.

"The outcome you sought is correct," she tells Lizzy, her cloudy eyes glued to Dean as she says it.

"See, I'm not so bad," Dean quips, getting a face of warning from Lizzy.

"Not bad," the elderly woman acknowledges. "Troubled. And trouble follows you."

"That's very true," Lizzy lets her know how right she is, eliciting an eye roll from Dean.

The next card placed is the Death card facing upside down. Lizzy makes a worried face when she sees it before looking quickly up to the woman for answers as to what it means.

"Upside-down," the old woman tells Lizzy while pointing to the card. "You will not die. You cheat death."

"Generally," Lizzy answers in jest but with a scared face.

"Not yet," the woman answers back. "You will soon."

"I'm going to cheat death soon?" Lizzy asks quickly earning a nod from the woman in confirmation. "How?"

"Not today, not tomorrow," the woman mysteriously warns. "But you will before a year ends. It will be at the hands of someone very close to you."

"Yeah, this was a bad idea," Dean cuts in, having had enough of what the old lady is cryptically telling Lizzy. "Thanks and all, but we need to go." He reaches down for Lizzy's hand and is shocked when she takes it back quickly.

"I'm not leaving," Lizzy tells him with determination in her voice.

"There's no way this is real, L," Dean tells her.

"I think it is," she argues. "I'm staying."

"Miss Cleo's just trying to scare the living shit outta you," Dean loudly protests before looking over at the elderly gypsy. "Lady, I don't know what your end game is here, but this is crap."

"You say this because you doubt." The hazy eyes of the woman look up at Dean narrowed and angered. "You always doubt."

"No, I only doubt when something smells like a steaming pile of bullsh…"

"Dean!" Lizzy shouts, stopping his insult. "Shut up and let me listen. You don't like it, then leave."

Jaw clenched and frustration high, Dean says not another word. She isn't leaving, he is fully aware of that now, and he isn't leaving her there alone. He crosses his arms over his chest tightly and bites his tongue.

"I'm sorry," Lizzy apologizes to the gypsy on Dean's behalf. "If you'd be kind enough, I'd like you to keep going." She believes everything the gypsy is saying. She doesn't know why but she trusts what this woman tells her.

Hate emanating from the woman's eyes as she looks up at Dean, she pries her focus away to place the last card of the reading on the table upright and to the left, completing the diamond shape.

"Hierophant," the gypsy explains. "You have a time of struggle and great grief ahead."

Lizzy's eyebrow knit in worry with her words.

"You will mourn a loss, but I fear you are no stranger to loss."

"No, I'm not," Lizzy answers in a very worried tone.

"If you have faith," she tells Lizzy. "You will come out on the other side and find what you're looking for. You're a strong girl."

Lizzy smiles small at her words.

"You're special," the gypsy keeps talking while placing her hand atop Lizzy's on the table. "You feel what others can't. You feel what others feel."

After pausing for a moment, the old woman stands up without another word and begins making her way to the back room.

"Oh, um," Lizzy stutters as she stands up quickly, hand reaching into her back pocket. "How much do we owe you?"

Without turning around, the gypsy waves her hand in the air as if to say 'don't worry about it'. Lizzy wasn't hearing that. She jogs the few steps to her and gently takes her frail wrist in her hand. The woman immediately shoots Lizzy a frightened look, eyes suddenly clear blue and the haze now gone.

"Oh, no! I'm sorry!" Lizzy nearly shouts her apology when she realizes she's scared the old woman with her hold. "I just… um, here." Lizzy smiles as she drops some bills into her wrinkled hand. The gypsy closes her papery fingers around the cash before Lizzy lets her go. "Thank you."

The woman gives her a strange look, her eyes once more slowly clouding back over, before she continues her slow trek to the back room.

"Hey," Dean calls to Lizzy once the gypsy is gone. "Let's get outta here."

Lizzy nods and grabs their bag off the counter before she heads for the door along with Dean. Once outside, the two walk out into the sunny Wyoming day.

"That was kinda weird," Lizzy observes as they walk back to the Impala.

"No shit," Dean complains. "And that's exactly why I fucking hate gypsies. Weird, creepy, weird-ass people. Why did you let her give you that reading?"

"At the time I felt like why the fuck not," Lizzy explains while opening the passenger door of the car once they reach it.

"Good instinct there," Dean pokes fun.

"Yeah, thanks," Lizzy sarcastically says while they drive off the meet Sam.

* * *

 


	5. This House is NOT Clear

* * *

"What the hell took so long?" Sam questions with impatience as he opens the back car door once the Impala comes to a stop in front of the local library. "Been waiting around for you guys forever."

"So sorry Miss Daisy," Dean grumbles as Sam slides to the middle of the back seat. Dean's still feeling unsettled after the whole incident he and Lizzy just went through and that combined with his constant mistrust of his brother puts him in a terrible mood.

"That just makes me your boss, dude," Sam tries to joke as he leans over the front bench seat to turn down the volume so that he can talk without shouting over 'Steady Rolling Man'. Sam then sits back and takes a stack of papers out of his bag. "So it's definitely a poltergeist but I can't for the life of me figure out what caused it to appear in that house."

"Shitty," Lizzy laments. No easy salt and burn for them tonight.

"And even worse, I can't figure out why it's tied to Nathan," Sam says in a sad tone. "There's nothing in the house's history or the family's history that could have caused it."

"So a day well spent in the stacks," Dean sarcastically remarks as he starts driving back to their motel.

"Easy boy," Lizzy warns him, running a hand over his upper arm. The point was to keep Sam with them and fight to find their trust in him again, not push him away. Or at least that was her point. It feels more and more like Dean would be fine without Sam around.

"Yeah, so old fashion house cleansing it is," Sam tacks on, used to ignoring his brother's biting tongue by now. "While I was waiting I called Missouri again, went over the whole ritual with her one last time to be sure since we haven't done one of these in years."

"Good idea," Lizzy commends him for his thorough work. "Wouldn't expect any less from you, Sam-I-Am." Dean peers over at her with her praise, a dirty look being shot her way. He hates that she still treats Sam with so much love considering the poor choices he's made. Dean's struggling to find that balance and it's annoying how easily she fell right back into a trusting routine with his brother.

"Here," Sam says as he hands over the step by step instructions he wrote down for them to go over, Lizzy taking it. "Get familiar with it. Could get a little crazy once we start. You guys find what we need?"

"In the bag at your feet," Dean tells him grumpily. "And next time, you're getting the magic mojo stuff. I'm never going anywhere near another gypsy for the rest of my fucking life."

"Ah, weird," Sam says with a huff while he begins to rifle through the items, seeing that they have everything they need for the ritual. "What the hell happened?"

"Some old gypsy was acting really strange," Lizzy attempts to brush off while looking over the step by step instructions. "What the hell does that say?" she asks Sam while holding up and pointing to the paper.

"Hex bag," Sam tells her quickly.

"Jesus, your handwriting is the worst, dude," Lizzy remarks quietly.

"Don't be such a bitch," Sam says with a hint of levity as he pushes her shoulder lightly.

Dean sends an annoyed look Sam's way with his actions. In his eyes Sam and Lizzy still have a very weird, maybe overly friendly relationship after Las Vegas. It's unsettling for some reason and he just can't let it go.

"So a weirdo gypsy was acting weird," Sam tries to rationalize. "Isn't that just par for the course with those people?"

"Well, yes and no," Lizzy answers. "This one was a little above and beyond the average."

"A  _little_  above and beyond!?" Dean loudly asks with impatience. "L, the lady told you someone you know is gonna try to off you! She was an insane old broad with nothing better to do than scare the life outta good people. Good,  _paying_  people."

"Whoa, whoa," Sam interjects quickly, leaning forward to talk to Lizzy. "What the hell? She said someone you know is gonna try to kill you!?"

"Pretty much," Lizzy admits seriously. "And she said try, not successfully do."

"Not helping," Dean darkly responds. Anything considered a threat on Lizzy always puts Dean on edge.

Lizzy starts to explain everything for Sam. "We go in, she doesn't talk, gets us our items we need, then out of nowhere she pulls me over to a table to do a tarot reading."

"Shit," Sam mumbles to himself with some worry. "She did a reading on you?"

"Dude, this old lady had like a hard on for L from the second we walked in," Dean explains. "She hated me right off the bat but definitely had a major crush on her. Was looking at her funny and everything."

"She must be a good judge of character," Sam jokes.

"That's exactly what I said," Lizzy answers with a smirk. "Why are you so concerned with this, Sam? Gotta admit, you're freaking me out a little."

"Because gypsies don't suck at readings," Sam tells her. "They've been known to tap into people pretty easily and they as a people have a unique understanding of the use of magic and the occult. Was she accurate?"

Lizzy groans as she doesn't want to answer. "Super accurate."

"Well, fuck," Sam sighs.

"Ok, stop for a second. We need to focus on spanking this poltergeist's ass first and foremost," Lizzy requests. "I'm not letting Nathan deal with that shit for another second if I don't I have to." Lizzy and kids have always been able to understand each other. She gets them, they get her. Maybe it's that childlike quality she's been able to hold on to and let out every now and then when not mid-hunt, but she knows exactly how to talk to them and relate to them. The second she met Nathan, it was the same. "Poor kid is terrified."

"Ok, but…" Sam starts but she cuts him off immediately.

"No buts," Lizzy says to him. "She said it would happen in the future, not right now so we have time. The priority is Nathan right now."

"I agree and it's late enough," Dean says while putting on the turn signal to head the opposite direction. "We can go there now and get the show on the road."

"Sounds good to me," Lizzy returns, ready to take care of thing that has linked itself with a kid. To Lizzy, children are off limits. Nothing should ever go after children.

"We just have to figure out one thing though," Sam adds. "What do we do with the family?"

"What do you mean?" Dean challenges, not understanding why it was even a question. "We get them the fuck out of there."

"We could, to make sure they're all safe," Sam starts weighing the options. "But if we do we run the risk of the thing not showing up if the person it's latched onto isn't there. If the kid leaves and the poltergeist doesn't come out to play, our ritual won't be worth dick."

"No way," Lizzy very quickly denies. "There is no fucking way we're letting that kid stay in that house while we kick a hornet's nest with a steel toed boot."

"But Sam has a point," Dean argues. "We might need him to stay."

"Then we give it a whirl tonight without him there first," Lizzy suggests. "If it doesn't take then we try again the next night with him there while heavily,  _heavily_  protected."

"That works for me," Sam starts while looking into the paper bag once more. "But heads up. If this fails tonight one of us is gonna have to go back to that shop. We only have enough of some of these things to get through the ritual once."

"Awesome," Dean remarks caustically. "Well, I'm leaving this one up to ol' Lizzy over here because if it doesn't work the first time I am  _not_  the one going back to that shop." He turns to look at her for a second. "And I don't think you should either."

"I won't stop for a reading if there's a next time, ok?" Lizzy returns. "But I would much rather go visit some spooky old chick again than put Nathan through something he might not need to be put through."

"Good point," Sam admits from the back seat. "Alright, we do it your way, Lizzy. And if we have to go back to the shop, I'll go with you."

"Sweet," Lizzy says with a grin while going back to reading over the instruction and missing the grimace on Dean's face with his brother's offer.

* * *

"Damn it," Lizzy complains as she sits Indian-style on the hardwood floor of the dining room before the bowl of summoning herbs that are now burning out. Now that the ritual is done she's growing nervous.

"I don't think it worked," Sam laments while leaning against the far wall, his pump action shotgun slung over his shoulder.

"You think?" Lizzy bitingly answers. Sam just gives her a knowing look, informing her that her attitude is unnecessary. She sighs. "Sorry." Lizzy hates that Sam now figured out how to communicate with her without talking. They've been around each other too much for too long now. She always thought the weirdo nonverbal thing was a brothers-only superpower.

"It's fine," Sam dismisses as he pushes off the wall with a foot and starts walking towards her.

"I shouldn't have been a bitch," Lizzy keeps going anyways as he extends a hand down to her. She holds on and lets him pull her up without much effort. "This just blows."

"I didn't want to have to involve the kid either," Sam tells her, dropping a hand on her shoulder. "But it doesn't look like we have much of a choice."

"I don't think it worked," Dean announces as he walks into the dining room, his sawed off in one hand and a bundle of still smoldering herbs in the other.

"Just what we were saying," Sam says.

"Did you do everything right?" Dean questions his brother with obvious doubt in his competency.

" _Lizzy_ did everything perfectly," Sam bitingly returns.

"This is bullshit. That kid is so sweet," Lizzy very sadly says. "He doesn't deserve to have to go through this."

"Kids never do," Dean replies while taking out his phone. "I'll call the family and tell them to stay at the hotel for the night and we'll talk with them tomorrow."

He leaves the room to make the call privately and Lizzy and Sam start cleaning everything up.

"Lizzy, I'm not sure this was a good idea," Sam sadly informs her as he blows out some of the candles around the room.

"Leaving the kid out?" Lizzy asks with sheer confusion as she sits back onto the floor to gather everything up.

"No, I… I really think I need to back off for a little."

"He's just a grumpy ass right now," Lizzy responds, knowing Sam feels this way because of how Dean's been treating him. "It'll get better…"

"Yeah, better," Sam sadly echoes. "You keep saying that."

The troubled look on Sam's face hits her right in the heart. "How about this; I'll take him out for some drinks tonight and give you some time off. You look like you could use it and if I'm being frank, so could he."

"Ok," Sam shortly answers. "But he's not always pleasant when he's drunk. Usually he's worse."

"That's true, but he's always in a better mood after he's gotten laid," Lizzy responds with a smirk. "And we have been really busy for a while now. Poor dude's all kinds of backed up."

"Cute, Lizzy," Sam complains with her way of explaining Dean's lack of sex lately.

"Seriously! No sex makes Dean a bitchy dude, you know it's true."

"Sadly, I do."

"Just give me the night," Lizzy assures him, stuffing things into a duffel. "I'll fuck the grump right outta him and we'll be fine for at least twenty-four hours afterwards."

"Yuck. Stop," Sam warns her as he throws an unlit candle in her direction, Lizzy ducking quickly to miss getting hit by it. He hates when she talks like that concerning his brother. So uncomfortable. "Just please, for my sake, don't bring the show back to our room."

"Don't throw shit at me and I won't," she promises to him.

"Sounds good to me." Sam laughs at her deal.

"What sounds good?" Dean asks when he walks into the room to join them.

"You and me heading out on the town to get good and shitfaced tonight," Lizzy grins up to him while putting the candles in a duffel. "Followed of course by me screwing your brains out, preferably more than once."

"So… date night," Dean sums it up with a flat expression. That was a good description of what every rare night out they've ever gotten looked like. Drunken sex. Done deal for them.

"Exactly," Lizzy smiles wide.

* * *

 


	6. A Night on the Town

* * *

"Two more!" Lizzy shouts out to the bartender that has taken a shining to her and Dean as they both drop their now empty shot glasses onto the wooden bar top. The dive is perfect; lots of booze on hand, pool tables in the back, and a jukebox blasting 'Soul Sacrifice' by Santana and doing it loudly.

"Sure thing," the bartender smiles over at them as she goes to pick up the Jameson bottle yet again.

"You feeling better yet?" Lizzy asks Dean while they wait for the next round of mood-lightener as they sit sideways facing each other on their barstools.

"A little," he admits as he runs a hand around the side of her waist until he reaches her lower back and pulls, making her hop down from her stool. He keeps pulling until she's standing between his legs. "Helps that I'm with you."

"Yeah, it's been a while since we got out just the two of us." Lizzy circles her arms around his neck which is much easier than it usually is as he's sitting down. "I like when we get to go out and drink and pretend to be like all the other normies around us."

"I like that too," Dean says in return while kissing her quickly on the lips.

"Well then," Lizzy turns to pick up the now full shot glasses, handing him one and linking her arm through his. "Here's to getting drunk and pretending life doesn't suck and the world isn't ending for a night." She smiles wide.

Dean goes along with her, a grin on his lips, and downs yet another shot. "Ah, I think I'm actually getting kinda drunk here."

"Right there with you," Lizzy responds while taking his glass and placing both back on the bar.

"Alright," Dean says while hopping down from his seat. "Bathroom break. You got another round in you?" He nods to the empty glasses.

"What are you, new?" Lizzy asks with fake disdain. Dean smirks and walks to the back of the bar, proud of her ability to keep up with him.

Lizzy climbs back up on her stool and pulls out her phone from her back jeans pocket. She sees she has a text from Sam.

You two gonna need a ride tonight?

Lizzy can't help but smile at the sweet gesture Sam extends their way.

"Another?" the bartender suddenly asks.

"Absolutely," Lizzy responds to her with a smile.

"Damn," the bartender jokes while she grabs the whiskey bottle yet again. "I gotta tell ya', you're impressive, especially for a girl."

"Well, alcoholism isn't something you just dabble in," Lizzy returns only half-jokingly. "It's a lifestyle, really. And you're a girl who works behind a bar so I'm sure you know how to hold your own."

"Not as well as you though!" she huffs before heading to the other customers around. Lizzy begins typing her response to Sam, pressing send when done.

We're at the bar two blocks down so we can walk. Don't worry. And the room is yours for the night. Relax and enjoy the solitude!

She's pretty sure she just made his night. It's a delicate balance she has to find right now with him, giving him space while letting him know they have his back, or at least she still does.

Something dawns on her and she texts him again.

Almost forgot. I want to do some training tomorrow morning. If I can't wake grumpy ass up, wanna join me?

The morning person of the two of them is Sam so if she was looking for someone to spar with or just plain help her keep up on her training, he was the safer bet. Plus, Sam is just plain a better sparring partner. He can be vicious. Her phone beeps again as she spots Dean making his way to her. She checks quickly.

Sure, just let me know when you're awake if he's not up for it.

With a grin she pockets her phone as Dean takes his seat next to her.

"Who was that?" Dean questions while taking up his bottle of beer for a big swig.

"Sam," she explains. "Wanted to know if we needed a ride."

"How thoughtful," he responds slightly caustically.

"I thought it was very thoughtful," Lizzy rebuts quickly, defending Sam's kindness.

"Hey, no Sam speak tonight, huh?" Dean requests. "Trying to have some fun here."

Lizzy makes a hurt face but she obliges him. She picks up her shot glass and raises it.

"No Sam talk," she agrees. "Just you and me and a bottle makes three."

"Thank God for that," Dean quips as he picks up his glass too. One more shot downed, the haze really starts to settle in.

"Too quiet in here. I'm gonna head to the jukebox," Lizzy explains once the song ends and silence takes over. She quickly jumps down from her stool, hand in her back pocket to grabs some bills. Before she leaves, she mentions something that's been on her mind for a while. "I gotta say, I wish I could have seen you when you were a few years younger."

"Why?" Dean questions with confusion.

"I just think that you were probably different back in the day… when you were still my age and all," she digs with a smirk while nudging him with her elbow.

"Four and a half years, woman. Only four years," Dean reminds her of the small different that exists in their ages that she loves to exploit.

"Four and a half long years," Lizzy argues exaggeratedly. "Nah, I mean life has been a real son of a bitch to you and it's a shame I missed out on the years when you were just a hunter with your dad. You were young, saving damsels in distress, knowing how to have fun and generally having the time to do so… I would have liked to see you like that. Just a thought that's been rattling in my head for a while."

Dean huffs and looks down at the dirty dive bar floor. She's right. Life was more fun and a lot more carefree. He misses those days greatly. But then again, he himself was a different person back then.

"Sorry, did I hit a nerve?" Lizzy questions with regret on her face. Clearly she shouldn't have said anything.

"No," Dean lies as he isn't trying to kill the fun night. "No, you're just spot on like always. Though I don't think you would've liked me much back then."

"Oh no?" Lizzy says with surprise as she takes a swig of her beer. "And why's that?"

"I was an ass," Dean laughs a bit. "Definitely out only for the good time and easy chicks back then."

"Who's to say I wasn't an easy chick looking for a good time myself a few years back?" Lizzy challenges with an eyebrow lifted.

"No one. I'm well aware that you were kind of a slut back in the day," Dean jokes.

"Oh yeah?" Lizzy asks with surprise and a smile. "How's that?"

"Easy. You fuck like a slutty chick," Dean answers and immediately gets a punch in the arm. "Hey! Not my fault you're a dirty bird behind closed doors!"

"You keep that up and you're gonna be a sad man with a pair of very blue balls at the end of this night."

"Please," Dean brushes off. "You couldn't stay away from this if you tried, you little slut."

Lizzy looks at him with shock, her jaw dropped wide and eyes bugging out with his comment. "I take you out on the town for the night and this is how you talk to me?"

Dean's expression grows dark for a flash and he grabs her arm, pulling her in so he can talk low into her ear. "Don't pretend that you don't like it when I call you a slut just because we're in public."

She has no answer for that. Maybe it was a little depraved of her, but there was something about her normally hard, strong, and empowered personality that when he'd treat her like she wasn't so it flipped a switch inside of her. A good switch. A switch that let her be someone else completely and let the constant need for control and self-worth and strength melt away, leaving behind someone so dependent and needy for another that otherwise, without Dean, would make her ashamed of herself.

"That's what I thought," Dean smirks when she doesn't answer as he grabs her ass through her jeans. "You still gonna put some music on?" Dean goes back to his beer as if nothing just happened between the two of them. He's playing it cool and making her insane all the while.

"You're a real son of a bitch, Dean Winchester," Lizzy tells him as he always finds a way to sufficiently rev her engine when out like this. She then turns and hightails it to the back of the bar, knowing Dean's eyes were on her the whole way.

"Barkeep! Refill, please!" Dean shouts to the bartender at the other end of the very long bar. Granted he knows he shouldn't be shouting like that to the woman he needs on his side in order to get himself good and drunk, but with the impressive tab they've got going he's sure she won't mind. By the time Dean turns back to Lizzy, she has company.

A guy younger than himself and, if Dean was being honest, a good looking cat at that, is standing to Lizzy's side as she looks through the song choices. He has his best smile painted across his face, an elbow casually leaning on the jukebox, and clearly this guy thinks he's quite suave with his tight t-shirt and over confident demeanor. Dean hopes that back in his own heyday he wasn't as transparent as this douche bag but he's pretty sure he was. He's shockingly glad those days are behind him.

Taking a sip of his beer he keeps watching out of sheer curiosity and maybe a little bit of jealousy. Lizzy talks to the guy, being her normally friendly self. She laughs at something he says and nods her head. Instead of walk back there, making his presence known to the douche bag like he wants to, Dean hangs back. Lizzy was a good girl, a trustworthy girl, and she can most definitely handle herself.

"Looks like you have some competition," the bartender jokes as she pours fresh shots.

"Poor dude has no idea what he's dealing with," Dean jests back.

Just as he says that, they both watch as the douche bag, as Dean has now labeled him in his head, tries to lean forward to talk in her ear. Lizzy immediately leans away, saying something to him while shaking her head no.

"Ha," Dean remarks. "Hope he knows better and leaves her alone now."

"What if he doesn't?" the bartender asks, clearly concerned about Dean heading back there to start a fight.

They see the douche bag try to put his hand on her waist and lean in again.

"She'll probably kick his ass," Dean answers as Lizzy gently pushes him away from her before wagging her finger at him in final warning.

"Well now I kinda wanna see that happen," the bartender laughs, thinking Dean is joking of course.

"He keeps it up, you will, sweetheart," Dean informs her, eyes still on Lizzy as she talks to the douche bag, her body language letting him know she's grown irritated. "Trust me."

As soon as the words come from his mouth, the douche bag puts a hand on Lizzy's ass. With wide eyes of anger, Lizzy glances quickly to Dean. He's been adamant about her not fighting unnecessarily since they'd met but in this case she thinks she can get him to understand her need to hurt someone. Just as she thought, Dean nods once with a smirk to let her know he was cool with it. Once she knows he agrees, it's over. She winds up and clocks him in the eye with a punch that no one would have assumed could come from a woman of her size.

"Holy shit!" the bartender shouts as her hand flies up to cover her mouth while she watches the guy hit the floor. He's out cold, his friends frozen for a quick second after what they've just witnessed.

"Told ya'," Dean nonchalantly answers, a hint of pride and a whole lot of lust in his words, as he watches Lizzy ignore the unmoving man on the floor as his buddies try to pick him up and bring him back into the waking world in order to make her song selections. Once AC/DC's 'Have a Drink on Me' starts, Lizzy turns and makes her way back to her spot at the bar with a happy skip in her step.

"How's your hand?" Dean asks her as she takes her seat next to him.

"Considering how thick his skull is, not bad," she lightly remarks while picking up her shot glass.

"That was amazing," the bartender tells her. "I've never seen a chick do that before."

"Probably why he thought he could talk to me like that," Lizzy answer back, raising her glass to the bartender before downing it.

"God damn," the bartender keeps praising. "I hate that guy. He comes in here hitting on every hot chick he finds and he never leaves me alone. You just made my night."

"Glad I could help," Lizzy returns with a wide smile. Damn it felt good to deck an asshole. What a stress relief. Even if she's followed Dean's very wise wishes and has stopped fighting in bars, she seriously misses that.

Dean sits quietly, the happiness he has in her only beat by the want he feels for her in the moment. Why her knocking out that guy turned him on so much, he doesn't know but it sure did the trick.

"Fuck it, tab's on me tonight," the bartender says to Lizzy. "The name's Laura."

"Nice to meet you Laura," Lizzy shakes her hand over the bar. "I'm Lizzy and this is Dean. And if the tab's on you, you better get us a couple more beers and some more shots."

"I would love to!" Laura answers very happily as she goes off to get their drinks.

Lizzy turns back to celebrate their free drinking for the night but instead is greeted by Dean's lips pressing against hers. He kisses her deeply and in a way that tells her he means business.

"Mm," Lizzy hums as he ends the kiss. "What was that for?"

"You're awesome," Dean tells her. "And you just sufficiently made me want to tear your clothes off right here and now."

"Please, I turn you on when I fart," she jokes with a smile.

"Well that's… just not true," Dean says with a grossed out face.

"What I mean is I couldn't even begin to count all the things I do that give you a boner."

The bartender drops their drinks in front of them, just catching the end of Lizzy's sentence, and winks to them before she walks away.

"That may be true," Dean admits without shame. "But some things get me going more than others."

"Like what?" Lizzy pries, wanting to hear him explain himself as she picks up her shot glass and passes the other to Dean.

"Like you standing up for yourself like that," Dean starts. "Handling yourself with dignity."

"If cracking a guy in the face can be considered dignified," Lizzy jokes as she tips her glass to Dean and they both down their shots, the alcohol really flowing in their systems now.

"That and I saw you hesitate before you hit him," Dean continues. "You're getting better."

"Yeah, well this wicked annoying dude's been on my ass about not letting myself fly off the handle anymore. He must have gotten to me," Lizzy says, clearly referring to him.

"Smart guy," Dean grins slyly as he stands up and steps closer to her. He leans down to speak into her ear so that no one else can hear him. "I also found it incredibly hot that you wouldn't hit him until you got the ok from me. You asked for permission first."

Lizzy smiles as she knows he loves that. He loves knowing how strong his influence is over her and the kind of control over her thoughts and, more importantly, her actions he holds. He looked at her as a tough one to crack when they first met but he easily got to her. He figured her out. It was empowering to know he could reign that tenacity in and to him that is seriously, deeply sexy.

"Wouldn't want to disappoint you, Hot Shot," Lizzy answers while placing a burning kiss on his lips, the whole situation getting under her skin and heating her from the inside. "What do you say you get outta here with the ass-kicking chick?"

"I'd love to," Dean answers very quickly, taking out his wallet to tip the generous bartender while he watches Lizzy nearly chug down the rest of her beer. He then grabs her hand and pulls her up in order to make their trek back when he suddenly stops short. "Shit, Sam's back at the room."

"So?" Lizzy shrugs as she reaches into her jacket pocket discretely.

"So, I'd rather have a little more space than the few feet in the backseat of the Impala for once. I'd like to do what I do best with a little elbow room," Dean complains as his lips land on her again. When he hears a jingle he pulls away and looks towards the sound.

"Good thing you have a smart girlfriend who knows how to plan ahead." Her smile wide, she twirls a key around her finger. "Got us another room. On the other side of the motel."

"Damn it, I fucking love you," Dean answer as he pulls her into a searing kiss, his tongue quickly making its way to hers. He abruptly stops when he remembers where he is and where he'd rather be. Grabbing her hand tightly, Dean pulls her out the door, practically running down the street back to the motel, Lizzy laughing at his impatience the whole way.

* * *

Sam steps into the pub and scans the crowd. They're young, maybe too young he thinks to himself when he hears 'I Got a Feelin' by the Black Eyed Peas playing loudly with a packed dance floor in the back corner, but the bar he'd be most comfortable in had Dean and Lizzy in it so this was his only other nearby option. He blows out a breath with puffed out cheeks before heading to the bar.

Finding an open seat, he plops down and rests his elbows on the flat surface in front of him. What is he doing? This isn't his thing. This is Dean's thing… or it used to be. But loneliness will take its toll on anyone, especially now that his demon-with-benefits is long gone. Dean used to tell him he needed to get laid more and Sam's starting to think he was right all along. Sure, he could sequester himself in the motel room for the night to dwell on his immense, world-ending fuck up or concentrate on how much he still missed and needed Lou, but at this point he just couldn't do it anymore. He needed to do something else for once and considering he had a room to himself for the night, maybe he should go get laid. At least it would stop him from thinking about the negative for a little while, right?

"Hey there, hot stuff," a friendly voice greets him, shaking him from his thoughts, and he looks up at the bartender who's currently leaning onto the bar on the opposite side of him, giving him a clear view down her shirt. He smiles.

"Hi," Sam responds simply enough.

"What can I get you?"

"A beer… please," Sam answers, his eyes roaming the crowd.

"Sure thing," he hears the bartender say as she walks away. Looking around the crowd he sees three different groupings of girls in different spots. By the back corner he sees a cluster of five women, all cheering loudly and being obscene. Makes sense since one of them has a veil on her head and a sash around her torso. Sam can hear in the back of his head Dean say the phrase 'Easy pickin's, Sammy boy'. Practically smelling the desperation coming off of the four non-brides, Sam's eyes move on.

"Here you go," the cute bartender perkily says while dropping pint in front of him.

"Thanks," Sam responds absently.

"Start a tab?" she asks him.

"Yeah," Sam tells her, taking a sip of his drink.

"No problem, sugar," she answers before leaving him be.

Continuing to evaluate the rest of his options, Sam peers over to the group of three women sloppily making their way through the bar. They are currently talking to a group of men just a few barstools away. Clearly these women were just looking for suckers and free drinks. Moving on.

His sights fall on the last of his obvious choices. It was two women playing pool by themselves off to the side. They're smiling, laughing, and genuinely looking like they're enjoying their time. They were cute too. One was blond, slim, and very pretty. The other shorter one had almost black hair, a killer smile, and great curves. Both have on t-shirts and jeans with flat shoes. They weren't out to impress anyone. They're unassuming and not in the least bit intimidating. Bingo.

Getting off of his stool, Sam makes the short walk to the pool table. Once there he smiles to them both.

"Hi," he announces his presence in a friendly voice.

"Howdy cowboy," the dark haired girl answers quirkily while the blond continues to line up her shot. Once she takes it, sinking the eight ball for the win, she peers up at him.

"Hi yourself," she greets happily when she takes him in.

"You guys mind if I play?" Sam asks hesitantly, not wanting to impede on their night if they didn't want him to.

"You have a partner?" the blond asks.

"Nah, but I can hold my own," Sam responds with an easy smile.

"At a bar all by your lonesome?" the dark haired girl asks. "Must have been some day you had."

"Try week," Sam corrects her. "Or month."

"Ouch," the blond haired girl grimaces with his comment.

"Look, I don't want to step on your toes here, so it's cool if you say no," Sam says. "But drinks are on me if you let me play."

"Cute and generous," the dark haired girl coos. "Alright, you're in. I'm Alyssa." She holds out her hand.

"Sam," he tells her while shaking her hand. The blond then moves in to introduce herself.

"Bridget," the blond says while grasping his hand in hers.

"Sam," Sam repeats and blushes a little. "But I already said that, didn't I?"

"Yes you did," Bridget laughs at his shyness. "I'll take a beer."

"Me too," Alyssa says while beginning to rack the pool balls for another game.

"Alright, be right back," Sam says before turning to grab their drinks. He heads straight for the flirtatious bartender and she takes his order of two more beers from him immediately. When he gets back he sees that the table is set to go.

"So you play often?" Bridget asks as she takes one of the glasses from Sam's grip.

"I don't suck, if that's what you're asking," he tells them as he starts to feel pretty comfortable around the women he's found.

"Well neither do we," Alyssa says as she also grabs a glass from Sam. "You might be in trouble here buddy." She winks at him playfully and Sam feels a little jump in his stomach with it.

"We'll see," Sam challenges with a grin, sure that he can take them. They have no idea that one of his day to day means of income is duping people out of their cash at the pool table. He'll have to go easy on them.

"You break," Bridget says as she passes him the pool cue.

Sam rolls the cue across the pool table to ensure it's straight, a move only a well versed pool player would do. Satisfied, he lines up his shot and expertly breaks. The reaction was priceless from the two women. Sure he intended to go easy but last minute he decided to show off a little instead.

"Well ok, Sam," Alyssa says with shock. "Maybe we're the ones in trouble."

"Yeah, you are," he winks back at her and lines up his next shot.

Throughout the night Sam does his best to pass on a few tips here and there to the girls, helping their game where he can. They drank up on his tab, which he didn't mind since tonight Eric Bloom is paying according to his credit card. He found himself genuinely having a good time and really clicking with Alyssa, which caught him by surprise. Usually he goes for the thin blond girls, not the dark haired curvy ones but hey, there's nothing wrong with variety.

By midnight, the three were sufficiently tipsy and having a hell of a good time.

"Shit, I gotta jet," Bridget announces out of nowhere when she checks the time on her phone. "Gotta get up for work in the morning."

"Oh, ok," Sam says sadly.

"I'm gonna get us a cab," Bridget says to Alyssa while heading outside to make the call away from the loud crowd.

"Uh, you know," Sam starts while looking at Alyssa once they're alone, hoping his words won't fail him terribly. "I'm staying about a mile from here. I wouldn't mind some company if you're interested."

"Yeah?" Alyssa asks with a little surprise in her voice.

"Yeah," Sam smiles warmly. "You're nice, and fun, and I want to hang out with you more."

"Hang out?" Alyssa nearly laughs. "That's really what you want to do?"

Sam just laughs as his face turns slightly red. "Look, if I'm being too forward…"

"You're not," she stops him eagerly. "You know, you're really cute."

"Thanks," Sam rolls his eyes. Just what every guy wants to hear.

"Don't brush that compliment off," Alyssa lightly warns. "I like cute. A lot."

"Good," he replies. "So what do you think?"

Alyssa looks to the front door and then back at Sam thoughtfully. "Honestly, I can't come up with a good reason not to come with you. I mean, you are a good guy, right?"

"I try to be," Sam laughs quietly.

"Then, yeah. Let's go to your place."

The two walk outside together once Sam pays the tab. Alyssa explains to Bridget that she won't be sharing a cab back and the surprise on Bridget's face lets Sam know that maybe Alyssa didn't do this so often. He likes that.

Once Bridget was in her cab, Sam unlocks the passenger side of the Impala for Alyssa to get in.

"Such a gentleman," she grins, impressed by the move.

"See, I really am a good guy," Sam jokes as he closes the door for her, smiling like a dumb teenager as he makes his way to the other side. If he and Dean had been on better terms, his brother might have been impressed.

* * *

 


	7. Sex Type Thing

* * *

“Unlock the fucking door already!” Lizzy complains with a smile as her lips never leave Dean’s.  Her back is pressed against the exterior of the motel room door as Dean struggles to get the key in the lock while groping her nonstop.  They’re frantic, acting like horny teenagers, and if one were to ask them they’d both agree.  They need this.  Badly.

“Sorry,” he says while still making out obscenely with her.  “Can’t… get… brain… to work…”

Lizzy laughs at him while starting in on the buttons of his plaid shirt before they can get out of the public eye.  Hopefully no one is around. 

“Ah-ha!” Dean shouts with happiness when he hears the door lock shift, indicating that he finally did it.  Turning the knob he shoves the door open, it hitting the wall on the other side hard after he pushes his way through the doorway, attacking Lizzy harder as he does.  Dean grabs for the door again, missing a few times as he never pries his face away from hers, but finally manages to slam it shut with a kick from his boot.

Quickly he backs her up until she trips over the edge of the bed nearest the door.  Falling backwards unexpectedly, she grabs hard onto his shirt for leverage but instead of find her balance she takes him with her.

“Oomph,” Lizzy exhales as his full weight falls on top of her. 

“You ok?” Dean asks in his drunken state as he continues his assault on her lips.

“Fine,” she smiles, her hands frantically working the buttons of his shirt again as she feels Dean grab her breasts through her clothes.  That walk back from the bar felt way too long, even though it was a mere five minutes.  It felt like once they stepped outside the watering hole someone had activated the launch sequence.  They were impatient and rabid for the other.

Dean’s mouth seeks her neck, Lizzy fumbles with his shirt, and they continue to clumsily move in their overheated state.

“I hate this fucking shirt,” Lizzy finally complains, grabbing the bottom hem of his flannel and yanking it over his head.  Dean sits up to take it off for her and gets tangled up in his halfway inside out clothing.  Lizzy giggles a little before sitting up to help him get out.  She throws the shirt with fake anger across the room once they manage to pull it off.

“Yeah, that shirt sucks,” Dean tells her pulling her face in to his to kiss her again.  Lizzy sits up, hands flying to his jaw and grasping to it as he kneels over her, a knee to each side of her legs.  “I’m burning it tomorrow.”

“Mm, good idea,” she tells him, her hands everywhere on his half naked body.  Then it hits her hard.  “Fuck,” Lizzy complains as she backs away suddenly.

“What?” Dean asks quickly, not wanting her to stop anything that’s happening.

“Have to pee,” she says as she tries to get out from under him. 

“No, later,” Dean tries to tell her, pulling her back in and crashing his lips sloppily back onto hers.

“No, now,” she complains while once more pulling away from him.  “Sex suck when you have to pee.”

“Awww,” Dean complains like a child while still pawing at her. 

“I don’t want to pee on you, dude,” Lizzy laughs as she finally climbs out from under him, kissing him deeply one last time before standing up from the bed.

“I’ll let you,” he responds with a smirk, just trying to get the show on the road.  He’s dying here.

“Sorry but that’s where I draw the line,” she says while moving quickly to the bathroom.  “Hey look at that!  I have a line!”

“Never thought we’d find it,” Dean jests as he lies back on the bed, watching her go.

“Give me one minute,” Lizzy asks with a smile as she shuts the door.  “And get naked!” she shouts out from the other side.

“Thought you’d never ask,” Dean says to himself as he hurriedly opens his jeans.

****************

“Damn,” Alyssa comments jokingly as she looks around the rundown motel room after walking through the door Sam held open for her.  “Five star all the way for you, huh Sam?”

“It isn’t the best, but I call it home,” he returns with a smile.

The two stand in the middle of the room, looking around awkwardly and shifting on their feet with anxiety.

“Uh, you want anything?” Sam offers.  “I have water and beer…”  He searches the small mini-fridge for anything else.  “And more beer.  Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” she smiles back while dropping her purse onto a wooden chair. “I’ll have a beer.”  She takes her jacket off and hangs it over the back of the same chair before looking around again, hands on her hips.

Sam grabs two bottles, opens them both and hands her one.  They each take a sip from their beers and continue to stand quietly in the uncomfortable moment.  Sam thinks he can hear crickets.  Come on, Winchester, say something.

“So do you…”

“You know I…”

They both start speaking at the very same time after such a long pause and laugh quietly to themselves.  This situation has all the fun and ease of an eighth grade dance. 

“You first,” Sam says to her.

“Ok,” Alyssa agrees.  “Um, I was gonna say that I’m acting a little weird here because I don’t normally do this…. you know, go home with people I’ve just met.”

“Yeah, I was getting the feeling,” Sam tells her with a shy smile.  “Truth… neither do I.”

“Oh good,” Alyssa says caustically while laughing.  “Two people who never do this.  This’ll be great.”  She takes a sip of her beer with an eye roll.

Sam laughs at her sarcasm as for some very odd reason it puts him at ease.  It feels familiar.

“I think we’ll be just fine,” Sam assures, putting his beer on the table and walking over to her.  He smiles down to Alyssa before moving in to kiss her.  He feels her hesitate at first, but soon enough she kisses him back.  It’s slow, and sweet, and exactly what Sam needed. 

Alyssa ends their kiss abruptly with a timid grin.

“Sorry, um,” she looks down at her feet.  “I didn’t want to stop… uh, kissing you…”

Sam grins from ear to ear.  She was damn cute. 

“But I need use the restroom,” she admits, looking up at him from under her dark, sweeping bangs with her bright brown eyes.

“Yeah, ok,” Sam says, using his arm to gesture to the door for her. 

“Thank you.”  Alyssa hands him her beer and heads for the open doorway.  As Sam watches her walk he takes a second to appreciate her ass.  Nice, round, perfect really, which is strange because Sam wasn’t necessarily an ass man.  He usually was more of a boob guy.  Something about this chick is pushing all his buttons though.  He wishes he could put his finger on it, but he can’t.

She closes the door behind her and Sam take a sip of the beer in his hand.  When he pulls the bottle away from his mouth, he makes a funny face.  The beer tastes off with the addition of her lip gross left behind on it.  Wiping it off of the rim, he looks at the color now on his fingers.  He’s seen it before, but he isn’t sure where.

*************

“Oh my God, L!  Get the lead out!” Dean yells out to her.  He did as she asked and now he’s lying naked on the bed dying for her return.  She got him going pretty hard already and having to wait is killing him. 

“I’m coming out right now!” she returns from behind the still closed door. 

“You better be!” he warns.  “Or I’m gonna take matters into my own hands, if you catch my drift!”  Technically he already has a hand wrapped firmly around himself as he impatiently waits.  The ache was just too much in her very short absence. 

“Don’t you dare!” she loudly warns.  “That dick is all mine!”

“Then you better get your ass out here and do something with it before I die!”

The bathroom door flies open and Lizzy stands in the entranceway with a devilish smile, the light from the vanity illuminating her from behind.

“Holy fuck,” Dean mutters as he sits up tall and takes the sight of her in.  With a hand braced to either side of the door frame, her darkened silhouette gives away that he wasn’t the only naked person in the room.  Dean isn’t surprised by her lack of clothes so much as the look in her eyes.  Her dark brown irises peering at him from under her side swept bangs are alit with carnal lust in a way that sends a shiver straight down his spine.  He knows that look.  He _loves_ that look.

“God damn you look so fucking good like that,” Lizzy tells him as she takes a selfish second to glance over his form.  There really weren’t many men hotter than him out there.  In her mind there just plain weren’t.  And the fact that he couldn’t wait for her because she got him so worked up that he had to touch himself just makes the view that much better.

Jumping off the bed, Dean rushes over to her.  Taking her by the hips he pulls her to the side of the door way and pushes her hard into the wall.  Biting her bottom lip while staring into his eyes they both share a moment of utter need and total love for the other before Dean moves in to kiss her again.  Hands grabbing and voices moaning, they lose themselves completely in the moment. 

******************

Sitting impatiently on the edge of his bed, Sam smiles to himself when he hears the toilet flush. 

The door of the bathroom opens soon after and Alyssa stands in the doorway with a shy grin.  The two look at each other for a moment, giddy nervousness mixed with a nice tipsy state of mind.  Looking her over again he realizes just how different this chick really is for him.  She’s slim, which he always loves, but she’s got more of a curve to her than he ever normally goes for.   Alyssa also has kind of an edge to her, he can see it hidden in there somewhere.  She comes off very sweet and kind, but she’s sharp, sarcastic, and pretty damn funny sometimes too.  He also found the small tattoo peeking out of her long-sleeved shirt on the inside of her wrist sexy, another first for him.

“Hi there,” Alyssa softly calls to him. 

“Hi,” Sam re-greets as he stands up and calmly walks across the room to her.  “How you doing over here?”  He snakes his hands around her waist until they’re resting on her lower back.  He feels her curves through her clothes and finds them just so damn inviting.

“Better now,” Alyssa plays along as she reaches up to tangle her fingers in his hair.  “I have _so_ wanted to do that all night.”

“Do what?” Sam huffs, his hands running up and down her back.

“As lame as it sounds, run my fingers through your hair,” she admits, the pink tint creeping across her cheeks. 

“I keep it long for the ladies,” Sam jokes, thinking as soon as the words leave his mouth that it’s something Dean would say.  He’s been around his brother for way, way too long now.  He’s getting lame.

“Then lucky me,” Alyssa responds before pulling Sam down to her and kissing him. 

It feels damn good to have someone close like this, and someone not evil for once at that.  No demon blood, no darkness, just simple, meaningless fun.  And she was hot, that didn’t hurt either.

When he feels her tongue run across his, Sam sighs his happiness that he took advantage of this night away from the oversexed rabbits that are his brother and Lizzy.  As much as they do their best to keep that side of their relationship away from him and as much as he’s glad they have each other, it gets old living with them and the way they act sometimes. 

When he feels her reach for the buttons on his shirt without provocation, Sam begins to think that Alyssa is a lot like himself.  Once she got going the timid and shy part of her personality fell away and the motivated, bolder side came out.  Perfect.

After opening the last button on his flannel shirt, Alyssa runs her hands from Sam’s bare stomach up over his pecs and shoulders before she abruptly pulls her lips from his.

“That’s not real,” she says while opening her eyes, having only felt his body while kissing him, not seen it.  She slides the shirt off his shoulders and her eyes go wide as they take him in.  “Jesus Christ.”

Her hands seem magnetically attached to his tanned skin that covers the hard lines of muscle over his midsection. 

“You’re making me blush,” Sam jests with a smile at her praise.  Who the hell was he kidding?  He gets off on girls who do this.  Any ego boost always turned him on.

“I mean, I knew you were ripped and all, but damn,” Alyssa honestly tells him.

Huge smile in place, Sam moves in as he’s unable to hold back any longer.  It always felt good to get such a reaction, but when it comes from a girl that was this hot, this sexy to him, it was even better.  He kisses her again while grasping onto the hem of her long-sleeved t-shirt.  She reluctantly takes her fingers off of his skin when he tugs her shirt over her head. 

Looking down at her shirtless form, her black lace bra framing her ample sized breasts and her smooth, light skin, Sam snaps.  He needs more of her and he needs it now.

Picking her up with ease, Alyssa squeals a little with the unexpected change.  Her legs locking around his hips and her hands combing into his hair, she presses her lips to his with the sudden lustful motivation.

****************

Lizzy’s back presses against the motel wall as she hovers above the ground in Dean’s hold.  He continues to devour every inch of her that he can as his mouth lands on her neck, her mouth, breasts, ear, cheek, everywhere.  Her legs are wrapped tightly around his waist and his fingers dig hard into the perfect curves of her ass as he keeps her lifted off the floor. 

The craze that Lizzy is in only gets pushed that much further when she can feel his hardness pressing against her ass in the position she’s in.  She wants him inside of her, she wants all of him, now.

“Fuck me,” she asks within a pant while she presses her hips down onto him with need. 

“Not yet,” Dean quickly tells her, sealing her mouth with his own after his denial of her request.

“Please, baby,” she hungrily begs while reaching an arm down her side and underneath herself.  She curls her fingers around his length, making him moan.   “I want you.”

Dean’s evil grin that slowly spreads across his face at her words sends a jolt through her body.  Lizzy loves that smile and even if she’s seen it hundreds of times it still makes her weak with need.

“How bad?” he asks her as her hand works him over. 

“So fucking bad,” she explains, the pads of her free fingers running down his gorgeous lips.  “I _need_ you to fuck me.”

“Just like I told you back at the bar,” Dean says to her, pausing to lick across her lips once.  He continues talking while his lips brush against hers.  “Such a slut.”

“Only for you,” she barely gets out as her voice nearly fails her with desire. 

Dean picks her up and pulls her away from the wall.  Lizzy, forced to give up her previous efforts in order to hang onto him, clutches to the back of his neck as she continues to consume his lips with her own.  She gets so wrapped up in him that when he lowers her onto the surface of the table in the room she jumps with the change she hadn’t expected.

Sitting at the edge of the tabletop, Lizzy keeps kissing him while he leans over her.  Before she knows it she’s on her back, the cold hard surface not even registering as his mouth leaves a heated trail down her body.

“Dean,” she calls out as his tongue runs down her inner thigh.  She knows what he’s going to do but right now she wants only one thing.

“I know what you’re gonna say, but this is what _I_ want,” Dean tells her, moving back up her body to look her in the eye.  He knows when she just wants to fuck.  She’s obvious to him when like this.  However, he has a different idea of how this is going to go.  Peering down at her while propped up by his hands to either side of her head, he explains himself.  “I don’t get you alone like this barely enough.”

“But we have the entire night,” Lizzy tells him while propping herself up on her elbows to kiss him again.  Dean stops her, making his way back down her body once more while explaining himself.

“Nope,” Dean denies her request, his tongue circling one of her nipples as she shudders under him.  “I’m gonna do exactly what I want to do.”  His teeth sink lightly into her hip bone.  “Now you be a good little slut and take everything I give you, huh?”  He winks with confidence while kneeling to the floor.

Lizzy moans out loudly as she feels his tongue give her one serious lick.

“Oh God, Dean,” she breathlessly calls to him as he sets to work.

*****************

“Oh God!  Sam!” Alyssa loudly calls out when her body gives in to Sam’s well versed oral efforts.  Grasping the top of the headboard above her in a death grip to either side of her head, Sam watches her body tense with pleasure from his position between her legs lying on his stomach.  Giving her one last light touch of his tongue after she relaxes, she twitches slightly with the feeling and giggles.  “Oh my God.”

Sam smiles to himself as his tongue runs along her inner thigh as she comes down.  Her laugh is bright and tinged with surprise.  The sound is so happy, so satisfied, and damn it, it is the sexiest thing he’s heard in a long time.

Getting up on his knees while looking over the naked woman in his bed as her cheeks flush pink again, he just smiles to her for a split second.  She’s adorable at the same time as she’s hot as hell.  It’s a perfect combination.

“Wow,” she exaggeratedly says with a hand pressed to her forehead as she stays seated against the headboard.  “So ah, that was… something.”

“Looked like something good,” Sam responds slyly, slowly crawling over her.

“Ooh, it was a something _very_ good,” Alyssa responds, reaching her hands out to cup his face and meet him as he comes closer.  “Now I’m just sad you won’t be around here much longer.”

“How do you know I won’t be?” Sam wonders as he kisses her slowly while her hands lazily make their way down his bare chest.

“You’re packed and ready to go,” she says with her lips still on his.  Sam realizes she’s referring to his full duffel sitting by the room door.  To most it would appear that Sam is ready to leave soon, but to a hunter that’s just what he has to do to be ready to flee at the drop of a hat. 

“I just got in today,” Sam tells her as her fingers begin opening his belt.  “Dropped off my stuff and went out for a drink.  I’m here for at least a day.”

“Well thank God for that,” she remarks while pressing her lips to his again, her tongue once more exploring his mouth as Sam moves closer and settles on his knees in between her legs.  He can’t help the groan that escapes his throat when he feels her hand snake its way down his lower stomach and into his opened jeans, her fingers wrapping around him.

Alyssa’s eyes fly open and she pulls away from Sam’s lips.  “No.”

“What’s wrong?” Sam asks, though honestly he knows what she’s commenting on and he knows he’s right when Alyssa is suddenly shoving his clothing down his legs to get a look.

“Not a damn thing,” Alyssa smiles to him.  “Now take ‘em off.”  Sam happily obliges her.  He stands up off the bed and takes the rest of what he’s wearing off, putting the two of them on an even playing field.  She blinks a few times and attempts to play it cool when she gets a good eyeful of the naked man.

“At least I know for sure now that I made the right decision to come back with you,” Alyssa says while beckoning him with a curled finger to get back on the bed.  Sam, now grinning like a proud idiot, is more than happy to join her.  Leaning over her once more, Alyssa doesn’t give him the chance to do anything.  She pushes him over and climbs atop his hips before he can stop her.  Lying on his back, Sam watches intently to the way she moves over him.  How her hands drag eagerly over his body, her eyes hungrily looking him up and down, her dark hair hanging down and partially covering her want addled face… all these things just keep pushing him further and further. 

“I have, ahh,” Sam stops mid-sentence with a groan when her lips find his neck.  “I have condoms in my bag by the door.”

“Mm,” Alyssa says against his skin before sitting up on him.  “Well allow me to go get one for you.”  She smiles down at him before hopping off the bed and walking to the duffle, Sam once more getting the chance to appreciate her body as she moves away from him.  For the first time he sees the tattoo on the back of her left shoulder.  It looks like a poem.

“What’s your tattoo say?” Sam asks, his curiosity unable to be curbed even in the moment.

She pauses for a moment before telling him.  “Ah, when to the heart of man, was it ever less than a treason, to go with the drift of things, to yield with a grace to reason, and bow and accept the end, of a love or a season?”

 “Beautiful,” Sam tells her honestly.

“It’s the last verse of my dad’s favorite poem,” Alyssa explains while bending down to search his bag. 

“Frost, right?” Sam guesses, though he knows it to be true.

“Wow, yeah.  It is,” Alyssa returns with surprise while smiling over to him.  “I got it to honor him.  He died a few years ago.”

“Uh, side pocket… on the right,” Sam tells her with a flash of panic.  If she’d accidentally opened the wrong part of his bag it could scare the shit out of her and he definitely doesn’t want this girl leaving right now.  “Sorry I asked about that.  Didn’t mean to pry so much.”

“If I didn’t want people to pry I wouldn’t have had it permanently plastered across my skin, right?” she rebuts while digging through his things.  Her hand flies up suddenly, the item she had been seeking in her fingers.  “Ah-ha!” she shouts happily with a silly grin.  “Buried treasure!”

Sam laughs at her slight goofiness.  It was a cute quality. 

Alyssa walks to the foot of the bed and climbs on, kneeling between his legs while looking down at his impressive size.  She appears contemplative while absentmindedly running her tongue over her bottom lip.

“Lost?” Sam asks her in jest. 

“A little,” she admits.  “Trying to figure out if I’m up for the added challenge.”

“Added challenge?” Sam laughs to her and instead of an answer Alyssa just takes his hand in hers and wraps his fingers around the condom for him to hold on to it for her.  She then winks at him before lowering her head to take him into her mouth.

****************

“Oh fuck,” Dean moans out as he looks down at Lizzy on her knees below him.  Her head bobs forward and back as her mouth takes him in and out.  A hand firmly grasping around his base, every time she moves back she runs a pattern along his underside with her tongue, a move she knows he loves. 

“Look at me,” Dean asks of her.

Lizzy keeps going as she moves her eyes’ focus upward, meeting his green orbs that are entranced by what she’s doing.  She’d smile if it weren’t for the fact that her mouth was currently too preoccupied to do so.  He always loved that, when she’d look up at him while on her knees.

“God, you’re gorgeous,” he tells her as he runs his fingers through her hair and gathers it behind her head to fully reveal her face.  “You look so fucking good with my dick in your mouth.  You have no idea.”  Her hollowed cheeks, her full lips wrapped around him, her bright eyes searching his, she really is beautiful.

Moving her hands to grab onto his hips, eyes never once leaving his, Lizzy goes in for the kill.  Sliding her lips slowly down his entire length, she takes every inch of him in as she watches his reaction. 

“Holy shit,” he mutters as his face contorts with the unbelievable feeling of being completely inside her mouth.  She feels so good that if he doesn’t stop her now, it’ll be over.  And he doesn’t want it to be over… not yet at least. 

With his hands still in her hair, he pulls her head back, separating them.

“Why’d you stop me?” Lizzy asks up to him while sitting back on her heels.  Her sad expression tells him she had really wanted to finish what she started.  He’s pretty sure that if she isn’t the greatest woman on Earth, then no chick was.

“Stand up,” Dean tells her, pulling her a little by the hair as the playful smirk returns to her face.  “You said you wanted me to fuck you, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but that was before,” Lizzy explains, her hands running around his sides as she presses her body against his.  “I was having fun down there, you know.”

“Oh, I know,” Dean responds while pulling her in, hands still tangled in her hair, and kissing her deeply.  Lizzy hums against his lips like she always does when just so happy and so turned on.  “But I think you were right.  I really should fuck you.”

“Yes you should,” Lizzy’s voice agrees in a lust-coated tone before she brings her lips to his ear.  “Tell me how.”  Her lips and tongue start making a trail down his neck.

“Mm,” Dean moans as he grabs her ass and tries to get his brain to form words. 

“I want to hear you tell me what you want to fuck me.”

“I want to bend you over that table.”

“Ooh, good start,” Lizzy whispers her delight.

“I wanna make you stick your ass out for me while you lay across it on your stomach, pressing your cheek against the table.  I want you show me that perfect ass so I can fuck you from behind.”

“You _know_ how much I love that,” she groans against his skin. 

“All too well,” he responds while bringing his hands to her hair again and pulling her off his neck.  He turns her to face the round table and pushes her over until she’s stomach down on the flat surface.  He then turns her head so that she can rest her cheek on it.  Dean trails his hand down her neck, her spine, and then runs his hands over her round backside, taking the time to relish her form.

“Please don’t tell me you’re gonna make me wait longer,” Lizzy brightly jokes while peering at him out the corner of her eye. 

“Nope,” Dean smiles out as he quickly presses himself inside of her, making her body rock forward hard with a loud moan.

“Oh thank God…” Lizzy relieves as she grips tightly to the edges of the table, her nails scraping the splintering wood underneath.

“Just call me Dean, baby,” he grins right back.

**************

Sam holds a tight grip on Alyssa’s hips and smiles up at her from his reclined position on his back as she sits still on top of him, clearly taking a second in order to adjusted to him being inside of her.

“Oh my God this is gonna be fun,” Alyssa smiles out breathlessly as she plants her hands on his chest.  She leans forward and looks down to him, her hair falling around his face causing him to smell something fruity.  Strawberries maybe?  Nah, cherries.  It must be her shampoo.  It smells delicious.

Going slowly at first, Alyssa begins rocking her hips in achingly slow motions.  The way she moves, so fluid and smooth, is causing Sam conflict.  As amazing as she is moving like that he’s dying to go faster and take over completely, but he barely knows her.  What’s cool with her and, more importantly, what’s not?

Sam decides to tread lightly.  Using his grip on her hips, he lifts her up a bit before pushing her back down onto himself.  The guttural sound that creeps out of his throat tells her how good that feels for him and Alyssa takes the cue and continues on that way.  She works herself up and down on him with his direction and it doesn’t take long for her moans to fill the room. 

“Oh, oh that’s so good,” she tells him through her heavy breathing.  Leaning down to him, Alyssa finds his lips again.  As she whimpers into his mouth, the fire inside of her growing every second, she begins moving faster.

Sam smiles slightly as he decides to push her a little further.  Bringing his arms around her back, he bends his knees and plants his feet into the mattress.  Holding her body against his, Sam just once thrusts hard up into her, testing the waters.  The delighted yelp he gets in return is exactly what he’d hoped for. 

“You like that?” Sam asks Alyssa, her face a mere inch from his as he snaps his hips up hard into her again.

“So much,” she breathlessly tells him. 

That’s all he needed to hear.  Moving hard and fast, Sam thrusts up into her with drive. 

“Oh God.  Yes,” Alyssa’s voice calls out in a bumpy tone, her voice labored as she drops her forehead onto his collar bone.  This guy is good, she thinks to herself.  Not only does he look like he does, not only does he know how to work that tongue, not only is his dick the biggest she’s run across, but he fucks like a pro.  He’s giving his all to a one night stand… and of course by now she’d love nothing more than to make it more than a one night thing.  She _has_ to call him tomorrow.

“Oh yeah,” Alyssa calls out as Sam’s hands reach to grab her ass.  Her eyes screwed shut and brain practically busted at this point, she buries her face in his neck as her hand clutches to his opposite shoulder.

He’s got her now, Sam thinks to himself.  She’s practically a goner.  He takes a moment to smile to himself when her nails dig hard into his upper arm.  Yup, as good as done.

“Oh Sam!” Alyssa yells against his skin, coming out as a muffled mess.  “Oh God, yes!”

Feeling her contact around him as her nails are nearly drawing blood now, Alyssa gives into him.  She mutters nonsense while riding high before laying her weight into him fully when it’s over.  Once her body relaxes on top of him, Sam slows and waits for her.

“Oh my God,” she pants out, pushing up on her hands again and sitting up while still straddling his hips, Sam still inside of her.  “Whoa.” 

She smiles brightly down at him and he swears he can see every single one of her bright white teeth.  That toothy smile sets him off once more.  Sam immediately hooks an arm around her back and sits up, turning swiftly and dropping her back onto the mattress to flip their position.

****************

Lizzy flops onto her back on the bed after Dean drops her on it.  She laughs a little at his sudden playful moment as he crawls quickly up to her in the middle of the mattress. 

“Shit,” Lizzy says to him with a satisfied tone just before he kisses her.  Her hands running along his jaw, he settles into the all too familiar and always perfect space between her legs.  He scoops her up, his arms wrapped around her back, and he pulls her into him.  He sits back on his heels and Lizzy straddles his thighs.  Capturing his bottom lip lightly between her teeth, she slowly drags her pearly whites over it before releasing him.  “You always know how to make me feel so, so good.”

“Are you kidding?” Dean asks with surprise, dropping his lips to her neck.  “I live for that.” 

“You live for fucking me into tables or for making me come so hard I actually scream?” she asks with a sexy little smile that sets him off all over again.

“Oh baby, both,” he responds while kissing her again.

“Well I’m more than happy to let you make me go crazy like that any time you’d like,” she slyly says while closing her eyes when his tongue outlines her ear.  “And you can fuck me into tables every day if that’s what you want.   Or walls, or backseats…”

“Or blankets on grassy hills,” Dean adds quickly, his tongue running down her chest.  “Or better yet, trees.”  He looks up briefly and winks, reminding her of the time they slipped off into the woods at the back of one of their many motels just for some different scenery than the Impala for once while on the road with Sam.  She may have scraped up her back a bit, but that one was well worth it.  Hell of a good round.

“Mm, or Bobby’s desk,” Lizzy says in a half moan as she aches her back, Dean taking a nipple in his mouth as she does. 

“Don’t talk about Bobby right now,” Dean complains against her skin before continuing his work.

“I wasn’t, oh God,” Lizzy pauses when his teeth graze her sensitive skin.  “Wasn’t talking about Bobby.  Just his desk.  And you _know_ that was some naughty shit we did.”

Dean pushes her onto her back again, this time he immediately leans down to her, his nose touching hers.  “Yeah, that was pretty awesome.  He’d kill us if he knew that we used one of his favorite lore books to prop up your ass while I fucked you.”

“That’s why we’ll never tell him,” she smiles while pulling him into another heated kiss. 

Dean, having been ready to keep going the minute he dropped her onto the bed, decides no more talking.  Back to business. 

“Ooh,” Lizzy moans when she feels him inside of her again.  She drops her head back and clasps her hands onto his forearms to either side of her.  “I fucking love that dick.”

“Because you’re a little slut for it,” Dean adds with a smirk while taking one of her legs and pulling it up to rest on his shoulder.  He pushes deep inside of her eliciting an appreciative wail from her.  Not good enough.  He wants more.

Pulling her other leg up onto his other shoulder, Dean does what Lizzy claims he does best; fuck her brains out.

“Oh God yes,” Lizzy shouts out, immediately feeling the pleasure build all over again.  This is one of those positions that gets her very easily.  Dean’s well aware of this. 

He brings his face down to her again, hovering an mere inch above her while he has her bent nearly in half with her own knees touching her shoulders.  Ah, flexibility.  One of the many wonders of the world.

Kissing her lips, Dean realizes that it’s nearly over for him.  He withstood her mouth, he withstood their first go over at the table, but now he’d dying to reach his own satisfaction. 

Once more, Lizzy reads his thoughts.  Maybe she could even feel his own end coming fast since she could feel practically every emotion he had these days.  She looks up at him with a simple request.

“Let go, baby,” she requests of him with darkened eyes.  “Come for me.”

Dean closes his eyes and does just that, her name on his lips as he does.

“Oh fuck, Lizzy…”

*************

“Oh fuck, Lizzy…”

Coming down from his climax, Sam feels like his heart has stopped.  What the fuck did he just say?

The room suddenly goes intensely and uncomfortably quiet.  Sam pulls away from Alyssa and drops down onto his back next to her.  That didn’t just happen.  He didn’t say that.  He just thought it.  But why did he think it?  What is going on in his head?  At least he didn’t say it out loud…

“Uh, Sam?” Alyssa asks while staring at the ceiling on her back.

“Yeah?” Sam huffs in a big exhale.

“Who’s Lizzy?”

* * *

 


	8. What was Your Name, Little Girl?

* * *

"I love nights off," Lizzy huffs as she lies back on the bed completely spent. She has her arm closest to Dean draped across his torso as he lies on his back also with his side right up against her.

"They're the only nights I like these days," Dean admits while running a hand down his face as he comes back down to reality. He then links his hand into hers as it rests on him and sighs his happiness.

Lizzy rolls onto her side, propping her head up on her elbow and Dean turns his head to look at her. When their eyes meet she smiles wide. "Hey."

"Hi," Dean grins back, thinking about how fucking awesome she is for setting this up.

"So, since we have this room for the whole night, what do you say I run across the lot and steal some beers from our old room," she suggests while tracing circles on his smooth chest. "We can have some drinks, keep the buzz we got going, maybe go in for round two eventually?"

"I love the way you think," Dean tells her, knowing her plan for the night was really quite excellent.

" _And,_  as always, I know what you need," she tells him. "You've been on edge for a while now and I could tell you needed some time away." She knows he understands that she's referring to Sam.

Dean heavily sighs again and pulls her hand up to his face, kissing the back of it. She's completely right. He doesn't trust his own brother and being around him twenty-four hours a day has been impossible. If it weren't for her, he's sure they'd have parted ways by now.

"I'm gonna go grab those beers," Lizzy says as she stands up from the bed. "You stay here and relax, huh?"

"I'll do what I can," he exaggeratedly tells her while tucking his hands behind his head with an 'ahh'. She laughs at his antics as she heads for the bathroom to throw on her clothes. Dean watches her as she never closes the door. Her hair covers her face every time she looks down and the vanity light illuminates her brown eyes every time she looks up. As she slides into her panties, her perfectly curved cheeks peeking out the bottom once on, he smirks to himself. That's his. All of her is his and she  _wants_  to be his. She  _wants_  to belong to the alcoholic, miserable, angry, broken, and hardened ass of a man that he is. Even with the knowledge that she was destined to be with him, she's still there holding him up. Lizzy bends over to retrieve her shirt from the floor, tossing it on without bothering with her bra. Wonders never cease.

"Staring pretty hard over there, Hot Shot," Lizzy comments when she looks over to him lounging naked and looking calmer than he has in longer than she can remember.

"Just observing my surroundings," he remarks quickly as he watches her pull on her jeans.

"Yeah?" she goofily says while gesturing to her body in an over-the-top way. "You like what you see?"

"Do I?" Dean answers in an equally exaggerated way. "I love a good reverse strip show. Nothing sexier than when a chick puts  _on_  clothes."

"If you're lucky, I'll do it the right way later," she winks while shooting a finger gun his way.

"Don't make promises you don't intend to keep," Dean warns her, loving the idea of his own personal strip tease.

"I would never break a promise I make to you," Lizzy reminds him while grabbing the key from the place it fell onto the carpet once she knocked it off the table. She then walks to the edge of the bed and leans down to kiss him. Dean yanks her arm and pulls her into him, her body lying on top of his. "Um, you want beers or not?"

"Yeah, couldn't help it," Dean says before placing one last quick peck on her lips before letting her go. "Honestly not ready for round two just yet anyways." She slaps her ass on her way off the bed, Lizzy responding with an exaggerated 'ooh'.

"Then I'll be right back," she smiles to him one last time before shutting the door behind her.

* * *

She knocks on the door quickly while turning the key in the door knob and entering their original motel room. Hopefully Sam isn't asleep yet and she's not waking him.

"Hey Sam-I-Am. I'm just…" she calls out before she has the door open but freezes once she gets a look inside. "Oh shit."

Sam is standing by the end of his disheveled bed wearing only his boxer briefs as some random girl Lizzy's never met is fully clothed and grabbing her jacket off of the chair it's hung on. Both are shocked to see someone walk into the room.

"I'm so sorry," Lizzy nearly stutters with the surprise, eyes wide and jaw dropped open. "I'll come back later." She turns to leave but gets stopped.

"No, it's fine," the woman assures as she puts on her jacket with a half-smile. "I was just heading out."

"Shit, I'm sorry," Lizzy awkwardly apologizes again. "I would never just barge in like that if I knew… Sam, sock on the door knob or something, huh?"

"Figured you were preoccupied." Sam nervously shifts his weight from one foot to the other, hands on his hips and praying Alyssa doesn't say anything about why she is making a hasty exit. He's got enough on his plate without Lizzy knowing what he just did. He'd be mortified.

"Well your brother did do a good job making sure of that," she smiles brightly. "Just came for a beer run. And to grab my IPod. Oh, and do we have any Jack left?"

"Uh, we might," Sam answers quickly before turning back to Alyssa. "Can I give you a ride back?" He had to at least offer. She picks up her purse from the same chair her jacket had been on before answering.

"Cabs work for me," Alyssa returns.

"Um, I could give you a ride if you need one," Lizzy offers thinking Sam fucked something up and she won't take the lift because of that. "It'd be totally fine."

"That's very nice of you, but I'm ok. I swear," Alyssa smiles to Lizzy as she rolls up the sleeves of her jacket. She sighs while tying up her hair in a ponytail and Lizzy catches sight of the tattoo on her inner wrist. It's a symbol she isn't familiar with.

"I like you're tat," Lizzy mentions, needing to comment on the interesting artwork even if the situation is highly stuffy already. "What's it mean?"

"Nothing," Alyssa says. "A friend of mine is an artist and he created it. Thought it looked cool."

"It does," Lizzy smiles slightly, still feeling remorseful. "Look, I'm sorry again, I had no intentions of…"

"Don't worry about it," Alyssa assures her. "It was already a little awkward in here anyways." She glances quickly at Sam off to her side before hiking her bag up over her shoulder. "I'm gonna go. Bye Sam."

Sam nods silently to her as his goodbye. What do you say to the girl you called the wrong name while inside of her anyways?

"It was nice to meet you," Alyssa says kindly to Lizzy and meaning it. Lizzy was very sweet and didn't mean to make anything worse after all.

"You too," Lizzy says as she hold out her hand, Alyssa shaking it, before introducing herself. "I'm Lizzy."

"Lizzy?" Alyssa asks with eyebrows lifted. She looks over to Sam with a face of sheer surprise before looking back to woman who's name Sam had said at the worst possible timing. "And you're with Sam's brother?" Alyssa lets go of Lizzy's hand and peers at her with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah," Lizzy smiles. "For a while now. Sam's like my brother. Or best friend, really." As she explains who Sam is to her, thinking she's doing what she can to make him sound like a good guy, Alyssa takes everything Lizzy says to have a very different meaning.

"Whoa," Alyssa huffs aloud, incredulous laugh with her hands raised. "Boy do you two have some serious talking to do. I'm outta here." Alyssa heads out the door, closing it loudly behind her, and leaves Lizzy and Sam alone.

"Okaaaayyyy," Lizzy drawls out and looks to Sam with a curious look. "What the fuck was that?"

"She's just pissed," Sam excuses, forcing his brain to quickly turn in order to come up with a believable lie.

"What'd you do?" Lizzy grins.

"Nothing," Sam fibs in an obviously guilty manner.

"You're so full of shit, dude," Lizzy laughs. "What, did ya' stick it in the wrong hole?"

"You're such a fucking lady, you know that?" Sam seriously responds while suddenly feeling highly exposed. He walks to his clothes strewn around the room and starts putting them on. Living in tight quarters, this was far from the first time he's been wearing next to nothing around Lizzy or vice versa. Maybe that's one of the reasons he's in this mess right now.

"And  _clearly_  you are the perfect gentleman, my liege," Lizzy jokes while curtseying. Sam throws a sock at her and she bats it away with a massive smile. "Don't be mad at me because you screwed up before you could get it in. What'd you do to her, seriously?"

Sam stays silent and pulls his shirt over his head.

"That bad, huh?" Lizzy asks while bending over the mini refrigerator to pull out six bottles of beer, popping them into an empty six-pack box sitting on top of it. Sam takes one look at her ass sticking out in his direction and immediately averts his eyes. "C'mon, it couldn't have been that bad. You can tell me."

"She was just, you know…" Sam mumbles through. "Kinda prudish, I guess."

"I knew it," Lizzy smirks as she stands up and walks to her duffel on the floor, pulling it over her shoulder. "You always have to watch out for the quiet ones. They're the closet freaks."

Sam just shakes his head and takes a seat on the end of his bed. Maybe if he stops responding to her she'll leave sooner.

"So why do we need to have a talk?" Lizzy asks, slinging Dean's duffel over her shoulder also.

"We don't," Sam all too quickly responds, Lizzy looking suspiciously at him with his abrupt answer.

"Bullshit," she calls him out. "That chick just said we need to talk and you're lying. What's up?"

"Nothing," Sam answers.

"What'd you call her my name or something?" Lizzy jokes with a huge grin, thinking how that'd never happen.

"Yeah," Sam sarcastically responds, trying to get her off his ass. "I called her your name. No, Lizzy, she's just not a fan of mine right now. Anything to make matters worse…"

"Ok," Lizzy goes with it. "Well, we'll be across the lot in room twelve. If you need us, call. Don't come over. Don't need you walking in while your brother's ball deep in me, right?"

"What is  _wrong_  with you?" Sam complains as he flops onto his back on the bed. "Why do you always have to say these things to me?" She's always way too blunt about her and Dean's sex life, very specifically when talking to Sam.

"To get that exact reaction from you, Sam-I-Am," Lizzy grins as she opens the door to leave. "I just love fucking with you." She winks and heads out.

Sam blows a large breath out as he brings his hands to his forehead. Fuck.

"Oh, and one more thing," Lizzy announces as the door flies open again, Sam jolting upright in his seat as she walks over to the cluttered table to take the half full Jack Daniel's bottle on it. "I'm gonna be hung over as shit and, if all goes as I plan, not able to walk so well by morning, so training is off."

"Yeah, kinda figured," Sam tells her, smiling slightly. Even in the disastrous situation he's found himself, he can't help but enjoy her honesty, her humor, and the fact that in the moment she looks just so happy. Whatever they had going on over there, he hopes Dean walks out that happy tomorrow too. He wouldn't mind the break from his miserable attitude he's been rocking lately.

"We'll do it the next morning?" she asks him.

"Do it?" Sam asks with alarm and a little shock. What did she mean by that? Did she hear Alyssa and his conversation before she came in? He really shouldn't have wondered off in his own mind right then.

"Training…" Lizzy reminds him while snapping her fingers in rapid succession. "You with me, mimbo?"

"Yeah, sure thing," Sam says, smile returning. Whoa, relax Sam.

"Awesome. Heads up, I'm gonna kick your ass into the ground."

"I'd like to see you try." Sam returns while once again smiling.

"I'll come grab you tomorrow when we need to head to that creepy gypsy shop," Lizzy says with an exaggerated shudder. She shuts the door and heads back out to spend the night with Dean.

Dean. His brother. Lizzy is Dean's chick. Lizzy is also practically his sister. He shouldn't be thinking about her this way. It was wrong. Really wrong.

Yet, deep down, Sam knows he's been looking at her differently for a while now. It might have started when he watched that video of the shifters who took on he and Lizzy's forms in Vegas. As fucked up as it was, he had to admit it was a hell of a show and the images within it never really left his mind.

Getting up and grabbing one of the few beers Lizzy left him, Sam once more takes a seat on his bed and turns on the TV. He didn't want to watch it, he just wanted the noise in the room as it was starting to feel a bit overwhelming in the silence.

Sam thinks about it and he begrudgingly admits to himself that this may have all started before Las Vegas even. When Dean was in hell and Lou had died, Sam was more than lost. Out on the road alone, drunk most of the time, he thought about Lizzy a lot. She was just as alone as he was, just as damaged and mourning just as much. Who else could understand him like her? But he stayed away none-the-less for many good reasons.

The problem started one night when he'd drunk himself stupid and was lying in bed in some random shitty motel, crying and lonely, when he suddenly found himself hurting to see her. In the sad moment, he'd have given anything for her to show up, crawl into bed with him, hold him tight and just be there. It was an odd thought, but not completely out of left field. Lizzy was always a touchy feely person, something he was not accustomed to. He's used to it by now, but back then it was not so normal for him to actually yearn for her to be there, to cuddle up next to him and make things better. Sure, he knew it was something she would absolutely do if she was there, but for him to think of it and want it was very strange.

Then on another night, it went even further. He was hammered again and it'd been so long since he'd talked to anyone besides Ruby. He was feeling lonely and, as men tend to get, horny with the lack of human contact in his life. He was in no shape to try and pick up a random at a bar as he could never drive in his condition. Popping on motel porn, Sam tried to use it as a means to an end but it just wasn't working. Lying back on his propped up pillows, his mind randomly drifted to Lizzy. At that point in the night she was probably asleep in her bed, drunk to try and ease the pain just like he was. The thought of her in her bed was what started it all. He had it on good authority from Dean that Lizzy didn't sleep in much, just her underwear if that. He'd seen her in next to nothing before, so picturing Lizzy with nothing on was never a difficult task. In his imaginative mind he saw it, Lizzy sleeping naked as he quietly crept into her bedroom. He'd slip into bed with her, careful not to wake her until he was sidled up to the back of her warm body and his lips landed on her neck…. Soon enough Sam had found what he needed and, as his brain soared, he jerked off to the thought of her.

"Should never have visited her that night," Sam mumbles to himself with another sip of beer. He remembers that after weeks of thinking about her, and fantasizing often enough about her, he decided to go see her. If he couldn't have Lou and Lizzy couldn't have Dean, they should at least have each other. It made sense to him logically and really, they could be perfect together after all they've been through.

However, when he got there, he chickened out. Sam got drunk at a bar down the street out of nervousness and broke into her place after he got kicked out a closing time. He continued to drink once inside her house, almost scaring her to death in the process, and then proceeded to kiss her. What a mistake. She stopped him and told him no as kindly as she could. In the long run, it was the right thing because Dean came back. But Lou isn't coming back, Cas made that clear. As horrible of him as it is, he sometimes wonders what would have been if she hadn't said no. The games a person's mind can play are awful sometimes.

A few days after that he and Ruby fucked for the first time as he saw her as the only viable option that he trusted. Chalk that one up to another brilliant decision made by the one and only Samuel Winchester.

There's just something about Lizzy. It isn't her looks, because she isn't his usual cup of tea. Lou was. She was perfect to him. Lizzy was gorgeous though and any guy would be lucky to be with her. Lizzy is also patient and so kind. She believed in Sam in when she shouldn't have. Somehow she still does. She looks at him with pride and love and faith… so of course he's grown so attached to her. He never sees any other women on a daily basis. They get along perfectly and relate to one another on so many levels, some even Dean can't understand. She's special, he knows it, and it's got to be natural for someone to latch onto another after having been through so much together.

And now that Dean's constantly angry at him, holding a grudge and growing more and more distant by the day. She's all he has right now to hand onto to. She's been so good to him through his colossal fuck up and she's shown him nothing but love and affection.

Pile all those reasons on top of the fact that, even though they are very different people, Lizzy still remind him of Lou in a lot of ways, how was he not supposed to start thinking about her like this? He was doomed from the start.

"What the fuck do I do about this?" Sam asks himself as he kills the last of his beer.

* * *

 


	9. Sad Girl

* * *

"Morning darlin'!" Dean brightly greets as he opens the door of the motel room.

"Morning jackass," Sam returns into his pillow without opening his eyes. He allowed himself to stay in bed for longer than usual this morning. After being up all hours of the night with his mind running nonstop with the new situation he's managed to get himself into, he's still exhausted. And as if the tension between Dean and him wasn't bad enough already…

"Time to get up, Sammy," Dean announces as he opens the curtains of the large front window, flooding the room with sunlight. "It's a beautiful day and it's breakfast time."

"You're awful fucking chipper," Sam returns while picking his head up and squinting over to see his brother who has been a huge grump for weeks now. "Shouldn't you be a hung-over disaster?"

"I should, and I am," Dean smiles over to his brother through the headache and sickness as he takes a seat on the unused bed that would normally be his and Lizzy's. "But last night was too good to put me in any kind of bad mood this morning. Plus, a greasy breakfast will take care of the hangover. Come on, get up."

"Not hungry," Sam answers back while putting his pillow over his head.

"Alright, I'll bring you back something," Dean happily offers. "L said she'd be ready to check out the creepy gypsy lady's store after we're done eating so don't go back to sleep."

"Yeah," Sam answers, not super excited to have to spend the afternoon alone with Lizzy right now. And who the fuck is this guy in his room right now? It certainly isn't his pissed off and leery older brother. He hasn't been actually in good spirits in longer than Sam can remember.

"Aw, cheer up!" Dean tries to get his brother to lighten up. "Shouldn't you be happy this morning?"

"Why would I be happy?" Sam asks as he uncovers his face. He looks over to Dean who simply raises his eyebrows and shares his patented shit-eating grin. Lizzy told him.

"You sly dog," Dean grins. "You don't have to lie to me, Sammy. You got laid last night!"

"Shut up," Sam says as he sits up and rubs his weary eyes.

"No, I won't shut up," Dean rebuts. "This is a good thing, man. I mean I'm assuming she wasn't a demon or a monster, right?"

Sam throws Dean an extremely angry look.

"Too soon?"

"You're an asshole," Sam grumbles as he gets out of bed.

"That I may be, but at least for once we're both getting some action," Dean comments, watching Sam walk to the bathroom. "Shame she left already. I woulda loved to have checked out the first chick you've brought home in longer than I can remember. Musta been a freakin' dime to get your ass in gear." Dean whistles in exaggeration.

Sam pauses for a second when it suddenly makes sense what Dean's saying. Lizzy never told him about how Alyssa left. She just said he had a girl in the room. She protected him from the ribbing he surely would get had Dean known Alyssa left angrily last night. That was so kind of her. She may make fun of him constantly, but she did love him enough to try and save his ass now and then.

"Yeah, you woulda liked her," Sam honestly tells his brother. She was Dean's type after all…

"Well, I'm proud of you Sammy," Dean says as he stands up to leave. "We're only men, and we men have needs. I'm glad you're actually listening to your downstairs brain for once."

"Yeah, yeah," Sam waves him off and shuts the bathroom door once inside.

"You want eggs?" Dean calls to Sam as he hears the clink of the toilet seat being lifted.

"Fruit," Sam shortly answers.

"Better be careful," Dean warns. "They say you are what you eat."

"Fuck off, Dean."

"Later bitch," Dean calls to Sam with a smile as he heads out to meet Lizzy at the car. "Never in my life have I met a dude so grumpy after getting laid…"

* * *

"Well fuck," Sam says with his hands on his hips as he looks over the store front. "You guys weren't joking about this place, were you?"

"Not in the least," Lizzy responds, shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight of the day to peer once more at the foreboding looking store. "It's really creepy in there. Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Um, yeah…" Sam answers her slowly with an odd expression at her question. They handle much worse every other day. Her concern seems ridiculous.

"Are you sure?" Lizzy patronizingly asks while grabbing his hand. "Why don't I hold your hand, Sam-I-Am. You might get scared."

Lizzy begins laughing but stops when Sam immediately takes his hand back, getting a surprised look from her. For Sam, any physical contact with her is highly unwelcomed in the moment. He really needs to figure this disaster out and soon.

"Dude," Lizzy says with surprise at his actions. "Relax, alright. I was just fucking around."

"I know that," Sam answers quickly while reaching for the door handle and looking to avoid her.

"Damn. So sensitive sometimes," Lizzy remarks while walking through the door he holds open for her.

Once inside, Sam surveys the shop much like Dean did when he first saw it. After taking in all that the place had to visually offer, Sam scrunches up his nose.

"Wow, it smells…  _bad_  in here," Sam comments as Lizzy rolls her eyes over having to deal with this all over again. As different as they think they are, they're still brothers.

They walk to the counter at the back of the store and look around. The store is silent. Sam picks up a familiar looking jar off a shelf and before he could investigate it, Lizzy swipes it from him, remembering Dean's reaction to its contents the days before.

"Trust me. I'm saving you," Lizzy tells him while replacing the jar of mystery herbs. "Maybe she's not here right now."

Then they both hear a deep, disgusting cough coming from the front of the store. Turning sharply with the sound as Sam reaches to his back for his gun, they see the old gypsy woman sitting at the small table up front.

"Fuck," Sam mutters under his breath before he relaxes at the sight of her. She was creepy, shriveled, and unnerving looking, but she doesn't exactly come off as a threat. Sam lets go of the handle of his handgun and stands tall.

"We didn't see you there when we came in," Lizzy says while clutching to her chest with her quickened heart rate. How did they not see her there when they came in? Better yet,  _was_  she there when they came in? Now Lizzy has to wonder if this lady is just out to mess with her, much like Dean suggested the day before.

The strange silence once more fills the room as the old woman lays out her tarot cards. Smiling with her crooked, yellowed teeth, she beckons to Lizzy while hooked her finger towards the table.

"Oh, no thank you," Lizzy politely responds with a bit of an unsteady voice. "Sadly we're in a time crunch today. I really appreciate the offer though."

The woman gets up from her chair very slowly, looking all the while like it hurt to do so, with a grimace on her pruned face at Lizzy's refusal. At a snail's pace she begins her trek to the back of the store to help them out. Lizzy pulls out the new list she made and peers over at Sam. He looks on edge when her eyes meet his.

Standing a little too close for Lizzy's comfort once she reaches the two hunters, the old woman looks up at Lizzy for a quick moment before taking the paper from her hand and heading into the back room to prepare her items, still having not said a single word.

"Holy crap," Sam whispers down to Lizzy at his side while they can hear her wet, congested cough from where they stand.

"I know," Lizzy responds quietly. "Just remember that this is an in and out trip. We're almost done already."

"Yeah," Sam looks around the small storefront again, getting an eerie, highly uncomfortable feeling. This place is just not right. "Something's wrong here."

"Where do I start?" Lizzy jests quietly.

"No, like, really off," Sam tries again. "Like, something is real jacked up here."

"Spidey sense?" Lizzy asks with alarm. Anytime Sam got a bad feeling like this he was usually right.

"Yes," Sam answers quickly, his eyes still roaming around the store. Just then the old woman comes out of the back room, paper bag in hand. As she walks through the doorway she trips and Sam runs over to help her. He catches her arm before she falls all the way to the floor and assists her back onto her feet. "Are you ok?" Sam looks to her with concern, hoping she wasn't hurt.

The old woman gasps when Sam holds onto her hand while helping her up. The second his fingers are linked into hers, the woman looks utterly frightened by him. She violently takes back her hand from him and stares up with now crystal clear blue eyes with panic seated deep within them.

"You!" she points accusingly to him with her gnarled finger. Her shaky hand painstakingly makes its way up until she touches his cheek with her paper-thin fingertips. Her eyes blow wide as soon as she makes contact with him and immediately she stumbles back to get away from him.

"What's wrong?" Lizzy asks the woman when she sees her horrified reaction. The woman just points her finger accusingly at Sam once more as Sam begins to worry.

The old woman's once again cloudy eyes turn their sights to Lizzy and she walks forward the few steps to reach out to her. She places her hands around Lizzy's right wrist while looking up at her curiously, making her uncomfortable. The woman then let go of her wrist with one hand and places it gently onto Lizzy's head before Lizzy could protest. The gypsy speaks lowly in her own language, Sam straining his ears to hear what she says. He thinks he picks up some of the words she mutters and puts them on a repeating cycle in his mind in order to remember them.

Once done, the woman lets Lizzy's head go and places her old, shaky hands on Lizzy's hips and stares up, ensuring her full attention. The gypsy's eyes are still wide as she looks up at the hunter and very abruptly her attitude changes.

"You need the truth," she says very sternly to Lizzy with absolute consternation and all seriousness. "He is dangerous. He is no good. You run."

"Sam dangerous!?" Lizzy nearly laughs. "He's just a gentle giant. A teddy bear really."

"No," the old woman sternly rebuts while squeezing Lizzy's hips with strength Lizzy would never assume she had in her. "You should not be near him."

"That's what you said about the guy I came here with yesterday," Lizzy lightly argues. Apparently this lady hates all men, or maybe just ones with the last name Winchester.

"The man yesterday will make you sad, hurt your heart at times," the gypsy explains with a slight head shake. "This man…" She looks over to Sam with narrowed eyes and a deep sound of disgust from within her throat. "… he will hurt your being, you're body, your total soul. He will cause many problems. Someone close to you will try… you remember what I said?"

Both hunters look nervously at the elderly woman. Lizzy nods her confirmation, that she does in fact remember the warnings the woman gave her yesterday, and the woman places an unsteady hand over Lizzy's heart.

"Listen to what you  _feel_ ," she further says very darkly. "It will reveal all." Lizzy stays silent as the woman lifts her hand and backs away. She gives Lizzy the paper bag and her attitude changes drastically. "You must leave," she announces as her feet start shuffling toward the back of the store at a slightly quickened snail's pace.

"Um, how much do we owe you?" Lizzy asks, wanting to pay for their items.

"You go now," her voice calls back to them, a little more sternly than before. Her change in mood is a little jarring as Lizzy walks to over to the receding woman.

"Please, you've been so kind, I'd like to pay you for the items."

Turning sharply, her eyes suddenly unclouded and clear blue once more, the woman glares angrily to Lizzy.

"I said leave!" she shouts out in a loud voice that neither Sam nor Lizzy saw coming. "NOW!"

"Ok, ok," Sam says to her, a hand held out in surrender while he grabs Lizzy forearm with the other and lightly pulls her away. "We're leaving right now."

The two make their way to the front door as Lizzy looks back at the woman disappearing into the back room with a troubled face. What the hell is going on here? Sam pulls her out the front door and once they're back on the sidewalk they see that the Wyoming sky that had been clear and perfect is now cloudy and threatening rain.

"What the fuck?" Sam asks her the second they get outside.

"I have no idea," Lizzy further adds in a shaking voice. She's seriously agitated by the whole experience. "And she wouldn't take any money. Why wouldn't she take our money?"

"Who knows," Sam rebuts while taking out his phone. He presses the record button after opening the voice recorder function and tries to recite the words he thinks the gypsy said while pressing her hand to Lizzy's forehead. "Va veti simiti… alti simmed… extendery cadoul devis."

"What are you doing?" Lizzy asks with his odd words.

"Trying to remember what the gypsy said while putting her hand on your head." Sam pockets the phone when done and pulls out his keys. "I don't get her."

"After that, neither do I," Lizzy admits while both get into the car. Once sitting in the passenger seat Lizzy turns up the volume when she hears 'Crazy Love' by The Allman Brothers playing. Good music always has a calming effect on her. She then looks over to Sam with a sad look before she airs her serious concerns. "She told me that someone close to me would try to kill me yesterday."

"I know," Sam returns, turning the key in the ignition in his haste to get the hell away from the store and refusing to look at her. He knows what she's going to say.

"I think she meant you," Lizzy blurts out, having put the pieces together while walking out of the building.

"I know that too," Sam begrudgingly says, having had the same reaction to what the gypsy said to them. "That can't be right, though."

"It does seem pretty unlikely. You'd never in your right mind try to off me. At least I like to think that you wouldn't," Lizzy comments while looking out the passenger side window. "What a weird thing to say."

"What a weird woman in general," Sam adds in.

"Hey, uh, can we keep this from Dean for now?" Lizzy requests.

"You want to lie even more to him?" Sam asks with surprise, referring to how they lied to Dean's face about the two times they'd kissed.

"Not at all," Lizzy answers quickly. "I hate lying to him.  _Hate it._  I just want to maybe avoid letting him know about it. He'll freak and with the way you two are right now… I just would rather avoid it if we can. For now. Please."

"I actually agree with you," Sam tells her. He and Dean were strained enough as it was. Adding this would just plain spell out disaster for their already broken bond.

"Good," Lizzy sighs with relief. "Ok, so let's go get Dean and focus on the hunt. We need to butt-fuck this poltergeist right outta Nathan's house. That thing is starting to really piss me off. Nothing fucks with a kid while I'm around."

"Never have kids," Sam smiles. "You'd be the overbearing, super protective mom that every kid gets embarrassed by." Sam's ready to take on the wonderful distraction of a hunt. It's easy to forget about life issues while trying to not die at the hands of an unseen entity.

"Dude, I'd rock as a mom," Lizzy corrects. "You know I would."

"Yeah, you would…" Sam trails off as he brings the Impala to a halt behind a line of stopped cars. "But you'd be the kind of mom who'd chew out your kid's bully in front of the class at school and make its life so much worse in the long run… weird."

"What's weird?"

"Just a lot of traffic in the middle of nowhere," Sam comments while rolling down the window and popping his head out to look ahead.

"Oh, it's so sad," Lizzy sadly says without seeing what is causing the traffic. "It's a funeral."

"Looks like it," Sam answers when he catches a glimpse of a line of cars, each with a flag on it and moving down the road perpendicular to theirs at a slow pace.

"Shit," Lizzy laments, her eyes tearing up. "That sucks."

"Yeah, I guess," Sam says while bringing his head back into the car and rolling up the window.

"But…" Lizzy pauses to try and stop the sob threatening to spill out. "God, he was just such a good guy, you know?" The tears begin trailing down her cheeks as she gives in and cries.

"Who was?" Sam asks with alarm.

"The guy that died," Lizzy explains, whipping her eyes. "He was a great dude. So charitable and sweet. Fuck, I can't believe he's gone."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sam harshly blurts as he watches her cry over the loss of a person she never met. "You didn't know him."

"I know," Lizzy answers, her voice elevated with her sobs. "But his loss hurts so bad."

"Why?" Sam keeps prying, looking for answers.

"I have no idea, it just does!"

"That makes no sense!" Sam nearly shouts, losing his patience over her reaction that even she can't explain.

"I know!" she cries loudly back. "But it so sad. It's awful and I don't know why!"

"Shit," Sam complains as he decides to go around the funeral procession on a hunch. He backs the car up a little and proceeds to make a U-turn in the middle of the road. After driving about a quarter mile, the line of cars now way out of sight, Sam sees she's calmed down. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lizzy answers him. "That was fucking weird, huh?"

"I'd say. Why did that happen?"

"I don't know," Lizzy tells him, whiping her eyes one last time. "It was like I could feel everyone in the funeral procession's pain and loss. God damn it, it hurt like a bitch… like when I lost Lou."

Sam sits for a second while finding a new way back to their motel. What could have caused that?

"You think your whole angel link thing got stronger somehow?" Sam suggests. "I mean, you're tapped into other angels, and Dean already. Maybe it expanded."

"Maybe…" Lizzy trails off, thinking it over. "You think that's what the gypsy did? When she put her hand on my head and said that weird mumbo-jumbo bullshit?"

"I wouldn't rule it out," Sam responds and mulls it over before hitting his palm against the steering wheel in frustration. "Fuck, just what we needed."

"So what, now I'm gonna feel what  _everyone else_  around me feels!?" Lizzy alarms. "I already don't like being tapped into Cas. And I definitely don't like always knowing how Dean feels twenty-four hours a day, especially when something pummels his ass. That shit hurts!"

"Lizzy…"

"I don't want this!" Lizzy shouts in a panic.

"Neither do I," Sam adds, now seriously concerned for himself as well as her. Will she be able to feel what he feels for her? Shit, he just needed some time to figure it all out, to find a way to cope with this, and now he might be screwed.

"God damn it!" Lizzy shouts as she punches the glove box in front of her. "Ow." She shakes out her hand but the anger stays. "Don't tell Dean I punched his car."

"I won't," Sam vows, shocked that she'd worry about that at a time like this.

"Why the fuck would that old broad do this to me!?"

"I couldn't tell you," he answers. "But we're definitely calling Bobby when we get back."

* * *

 


	10. Am I Inside?

* * *

"What's cookin' good lookin'," Dean cheerily greets when he hears the door to their room open with his taken apart handgun in his lap as he cleans it. The night before rejuvenated his whole being and on top of that he didn't need to step foot into the horrid gypsy store again. He's riding high for the first time in a very long time. Yet, when he looks over to the doorway and sees Lizzy, his smile drops immediately. Her worry addled face complete with black trails of cried-off makeup under her eyes makes his stomach knot. "What did that gypsy bitch do?" His voice is angry and he's instantly on his feet, rushing to her side.

"Not too sure," Lizzy responds as she steps into the room and Sam shuts the door behind them. "Something's seriously wrong with me though."

"Shit, L. What happened?" He's already in full blown protective mode. Dean reaches out to place a comforting hand on her cheek once he's standing in front of her. Instead of calming her, however, his touch has a very different effect.

The second his hand presses against her face, she inhales sharply and everything around her disappears. She can no longer see what is supposed to be in front of her. She should be able to view Dean's concerned expression, their shitty motel room, and Sam standing off to the side of her periphery. Instead, it's pitch black. Everything is blocked out suddenly; sight, sound, smell, everything with the exception of physical and emotional sensation. She can still feel and what she feels is something she could never dream up in the worst of her nightmares.

At first it's the intense heat. Burning, searing heat like she's never felt before. She knows her skin is singeing with its intensity, undoubtedly turning red and crisping under its force if she could see it.

Then the fear hits. She has an overwhelming sense of utter terror that threatens to cripple her completely. And she's mad. Irrationally mad. She has an indescribable deep seated anger that, along with the unreal, overpowering fear, overwhelms her emotional capacity. If she could move, which for some reason she just can't no matter what she does, she'd want to run away from this intensity she feels or maybe start swinging her fists with the ire she has immersed within her heart. Instead she's stuck, no way out, no solution, no sense of relief in sight. Just heat and all-consuming fear and sheer helplessness at its worst.

But all of those emotions come to a screeching, horrific halt when the blinding pain starts in on her side. Lizzy knows the feeling of a knife stabbing into her flesh a little too well and that's exactly what she experiences. Piece by piece, her body is cut wide open, dissected, separated, and skillfully tortured. Her skin, then her innards, then her entire soul itself is torn to shreds. It hurt worse than anything she's ever experienced before and it consumes her complete being, her utter essence. She'd give anything to get it to stop. Anything. She's so pathetic and weak. Why won't this stop?

And just as fast as it hit her, it all abruptly ends. Lizzy's vision returns and Dean is still in front of her but a good foot backed away now. The second he touched her, Dean watched as her eyes went vacant and she seemed locked in her mind. He called to her, grabbed her by both sides of her face, shook her, yelled her name, but nothing worked. Sam had soon enough put it together and pushed Dean away from her, separating them and making her return to the waking world.

"Oh God." Lizzy's horrified whisper is barely heard as she looks back at Dean with a completely new perspective. Her breathing is rapid and eyes wide as she clutches her side where the pain had just been tearing her in two. "Fuck…" She looks him in the eye as the whole different view of who he is starts to set in. "Dean! Oh my God!" At a loss, she drops immediately onto the floor and draws her knees into her chest, hugging her legs tightly while sobbing uncontrollably. That experience was awful and she could never imagine anything worse… and unfortunately she has a good idea of exactly what it was.

"What the fuck is happening here?" Dean asks and kneels onto the floor, instinctually reaching out to comfort her, but Sam slaps his hands away instantly.

"Don't!" Sam warns with panic. "Don't touch her!"

"Why!?" Dean looks up at Sam with heavy alarm in his eyes. "What happened!?"

"We think that gypsy fucked with her," Sam tells him with a sad expression as he looks to her crumpled form on the floor. "The old lady put her hand on Lizzy's head, spoke some weird language, and then kicked us outta the shop without explanation."

"And!?" Dean's eyes are wild as he looks her over, seeing the torment she's in and not being able to help. This was always the hardest thing for him to go through; watching Lizzy's pain that he couldn't take away.

"And… on the way home a funeral procession went by and she started sobbing and telling me how much of a great guy the stiff that she'd never met was."

"How would she know that!?" Dean questions, his now wild eyes never once leaving her huddled form.

"Our best guess is that the old lady just took what Lizzy already had and made it much stronger." Sam sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "She already can feel angels and your emotions and stuff… so we kinda figured that the gypsy strengthened that. Looks like we were right."

"She cursed me," Lizzy cries with her forehead leaning against her bent up knees. "Fuck, Dean… is that what it was really like?"

"What are you talking about?" Dean quickly asks her, eyes wide with her question.

"It was awful," she bawls while finally looking up at him with red eyes. "You went through that shit for years!? How? How are you still…  _you_!?" She once more is wracked by sobs as she covers her hands over her face.

"Oh fuck no," Dean laments heavily when he understands. She got a peek into what he feels, into the things he shoves down deep and never lets out. No one should ever do that.

"I felt it," she cries. "I felt hell, Dean. It's in you still. It's horrible. I'm… I…."

Not being able to stop herself once the weight of what he carries with him presses down on her, Lizzy jolts up on her knees and dives forward, wrapping her arms around him and throwing her full weight onto him. Comforting her man in a time like this, when she can truly grasp exactly what he went through, wasn't a second thought. However, she should have known better. Contact with him is what caused the problem the first time. Arms circling his neck, she dives back into the blackness of Dean's psyche when her cheek presses to his.

Nothing. Nothing at all. She feels a dark, foreboding emptiness with absolutely nothing in it. There is no warmth but it isn't overly cold. There's no pain but there isn't comfort either. It isn't bad, nor is it good. She always feels emotions at their strongest and in the moment she doesn't feel a single thing. Never in her life as all feeling, physical and emotional, completely fled her.

This time she snaps back to reality much faster than before. She finds herself backwards on her ass on the floor a foot away from Dean. He's still kneeling and looking at her with expecting eyes.

"Sorry," Dean says regrettably. "I didn't wanna push you but you didn't give me much of a choice."

"I'm fine," Lizzy explains as she sits Indian-style and leans forward, her palms covering over her temples with her elbows propped on her knees. "I shouldn't have hugged you. It was a force of habit."

"Yeah, well, until we figure this out, no touching," Sam warns while pointing back and forth between the two as he takes out his phone to call Bobby.

"What did you see?" Dean quickly asks her.

"I didn't see anything," Lizzy tells him truthfully. "I didn't hear or smell or taste anything either. I could only feel."

"Just feel?" Sam further pries as he dials Bobby's number.

"Yeah, just feel."

"Ok, so what did you feel?" Dean wonders as Sam heads outside to talk to their go-to guy with, hopefully, all the answers.

"You," Lizzy says. "The first time I felt you in hell, I know it. I felt the fire, the burn. I, I couldn't move though, like I was made immobile. And I could sense total fear, exhaustion, anger…"

"Sounds about right," Dean painfully and very quietly tells her.

"Then… God," Lizzy pauses and closes her eyes tightly. She grips her bent knees and hunches over as she recalls the horrific experience. "I could feel someone or something slicing me open and doing awful things…. Fuck, it hurt so bad…" She blows out a forced breath and tries to compose herself once the sobs threaten to take her again. "How did you get through that?"

"You forget that I didn't," Dean reminds her. He broke, he couldn't hack it at all.

"I was only in that for like a minute!" Lizzy loudly shouts. "You did  _that_  for thirty years! You should be a fucking disaster!"

"I am a disaster," Dean somberly tells her. "A pretty big one."

"No! No!" Lizzy shakes her head rapidly as she grows frustrated with him. She looks to Dean seriously, eyes locked on his. "How are you still standing upright? How are you able to still function, and hunt, and just be alive and human?"

"I don't function normally, L," Dean explains with some impatience with her. "I am exactly the mess you're describing. You just always look past it somehow. My emotions are a fucking wreck."

"For what you've been through, no they aren't," Lizzy fights back.

"Did you feel hell both times?" Dean cautiously asks, looking to change the focus of their conversation. He knows the utter train wreck that he is, whether she sees it or not. No need for him to sit through her trying to tell him any differently yet again.

"No," Lizzy answers with a wrinkled expression. "The second time I felt nothing."

"But you space-cased right on outta here just like last time."

"I know," Lizzy continues. "I was inside your emotions again, but it was like there was nothing at all. No good or bad, just a big fat nothing."

"What the fuck does that mean?" Dean asks with some fright.

"Dean, I felt what's in you," Lizzy tries to drive home, her eyes watering over again. "There's a missing piece to you. It's… something's… just missing."

Dean looks away for a moment, choosing to avoid her and stare at the putrid green wallpaper of their room instead. He knew it was true. He never fully, one-hundred percent rebounded from his time in the pit. He never felt the need to share that information with others as he knew no one would look at him the same again or ever fully understand. He got tortured for years, he became the evil monster he hated for a few also, but he never told anyone about how badly it truly affected him… not even Lizzy.

"It's not a missing piece," Dean quietly tells her while peering at the wall.

"Then what is it?" Lizzy asks.

"It's dead," Dean admits in a sigh as he looks her in the eye. "It's not missing 'cause it's just gone."

"I don't understand?" Lizzy says, panic in her eyes. "What's gone?"

"A part of me… some piece of who I was," Dean further attempts to explain. "I came back not who I used to be..."

"I've always known that," she sadly admits. She saw it the second he was walking and talking again. He wasn't the man she first fell in love with anymore. He'd changed. He was still who loved deeply, but he was different, there was no overlooking that.

"Because a part of me died through all that."

Sitting still, hands in her lap as she peers at him and reads the anxiety of telling her this on his face, Lizzy almost moves in to hug him again, stopping herself only when she remembers what happens when she touches him. She's had enough emotional punches in the face from him for right now.

"Don't feel ashamed about that," Lizzy suddenly and quietly says, feeling the disgrace pouring off of him and onto her. "Not with me. You never have to feel that way around me."

"If I could stop it I would," Dean responds lowly while sitting back against the side of the bed, knees bent and hand washing down his face.

"And don't worry so much, I can handle this," she further adds.

"What'd ya' mean?"

"You're kinda freaking a little in there," she says while pointing in his general direction. "You're worried now that I know about hell and stuff."

"You have enough on your plate without me adding to it," Dean explains away why he never shared this with her.

"Well, it isn't  _my_  plate," Lizzy corrects. "It's  _our_ plate. You take the shit I come packaged with, I take your baggage with a smile. Isn't that the unspoken rule of us?"

"Yeah," Dean mutters with his head hung low.

"This is nuts. I'd thought you were an open book even before this crap," Lizzy remarks. "Everything you're feeling right now, I can feel like it's my own. You might want to try and control your emotions until we figure this out. Every single thing you feel is just firing at me like crazy." And it is. Sadness, anger, fright, anxiety, hopelessness… it's all coming at her in waves and hitting her hard in the chest.

"Awesome," Dean comments depressively as the motel room door opens again, making them both look up quickly.

"Hey," Sam calls out with his phone in his hand. "I need to try something."

"Super," Lizzy sarcastically returns while standing up. "What?"

"Hold my hand," Sam says while holding his free palm out to her.

"Uh… I don't want to," Lizzy says, afraid to touch any other person.

"Just do it, Liz," Bobby's voice can be heard over the phone's speaker.

"You do it," Lizzy grumbles to the hunter.

"Watch yer tone, woman," Bobby warns, annoyed with her hesitance as he tries to help her. "Sam and I have a theory that you only do the weird freak out thing when you touch Dean. Need to see if that's true."

Sighing heavily while rolling her eyes, Lizzy reaches out and grabs Sam's hand before she can think twice about it. She can feel his strong sense of worry along with his sympathy, determination and serious need to help her, but no freak out. No loss of all other senses. No strange blackout moment filled with physical and emotional sensations. Just a very distinct strengthening of what he's experiencing himself.

"I'm just getting what you're feeling but stronger," she explains while letting his hand go. "You're super concerned and feel real bad for me, but that's all I'm getting. Oh, and your shoulder is acting up again. Shit, that's still bothering you?"

"Good," Sam nods and blows out a breath of relief. Thank God that's all she got. "So we were right. The gypsy just made what you already had going stronger. You're super tapped into Dean now, probably Cas too. And now you can feel everyone else to a certain degree also."

"Sweet," Lizzy complains sarcastically as she walks to her duffle. "What do we do about this?"

"I'm thinking you need to go talk to that gypsy friend of yours," Bobby suggests over the phone.

"She's far from a friend," Dean quips from the floor, still trying to accept that Lizzy knows so much more than he ever intended on telling her about himself.

"So it sounds," Bobby continues over the phone. "But if she put a curse on you, she'll know how to lift it."

"Damn it," Sam laments as he watches Lizzy walk towards him with a water bottle and aspirin. "She didn't seem like the reasonable type. I doubt she'll be happy to help out, especially if she went out of her way to put the curse  _onto_  Lizzy in the first place." Sam tries to wave her off, tell her his shoulder is fine, but she just stares him down and forces two pills into his hand. She then gives him a look of serious expectation so Sam sucks it up, washing the pills down with water.

"Reasonable or not, she's gonna reverse this thing. We won't give her the choice not to," Dean says, getting up with a renewed sense of determination. "Let's go pay the hag a visit."

"We can't do that," Lizzy stops him and Dean gives her a confused look. "What about Nathan?"

"We can handle that tomorrow night," Dean says in an even tone. "This is bigger."

"No it's not," Lizzy fights back. "Nathan is just a kid. This thing left some pretty deep scratches on him the last time he slept at home. It's malevolent. He can't live like this. We have to take care of the poltergeist first. We can deal with my weirdo shit tomorrow."

"No way," Dean refuses, grabbing his jacket. "Nathan will be just fine. Sam will make sure they don't stay in the house tonight, right?" He looks to his brother for support but before Sam could answer either way Lizzy keeps her argument going.

"Fuck that!" Lizzy says angrily. "Kids come first, dude."

"Hey," Bobby tries to interrupt over the phone to no avail.

"Unless you're cursed, L!" Dean shouts back. " _You_  come first on this one."

"Um, we're talking about me here," Lizzy rebuts with sheer annoyance. "Considering that, I think I should have full say in this."

"Hey!" Bobby attempts again a little louder.

"But you're making the wrong decision. So now, I make it for you," Dean stubbornly tries to take control. "We're going to that shop, right now!"

"Don't tell me what to do, Dean! I'm not…"

"Hey idjits!" Bobby loudly shouts, making the two pause. "You two done playing old married couple long enough to listen to me!?"

Lizzy and Dean share angered looks after having been caught up in their disagreement. Lizzy built up her annoyance in Dean quite quickly. Must be his irritation displacing itself onto her. She got too heated way too fast.

"Sorry Bobby," Lizzy apologizes in a low tone. Sometimes when she and Dean disagree about something, they get carried away. Both being stubborn people, this happened somewhat often.

"And Dean, she's right," Bobby informs him. "The kid comes first. He needs your help."

"Thank you!" Lizzy says with relief. Letting that kid go through what he has for another night was not something she could allow to happen.

"But I also think once you're done you need to go check out that shop," Bobby adds. "Maybe hit it up on the way back, give it a once over before regular store hours if you catch my drift."

"We can do that," Sam answers for the others. "And we'll keep you posted."

"Damn well better," Bobby warns. "I'll get digging, see what I can see."

"Oh!" Sam calls out when he remember his voice note he left himself on his phone. "Bobby, give this a listen." Pressing play, the hunters all listen to Sam's voice over the phone's speaker.

_Va veti simiti… alti simmed… extendery cadoul devis._

"That's what the old gypsy said while she had her hand on Lizzy," Sam explains. "I doubt it's completely right but it's close. Any idea what she said?"

"Sounds Romanian," Bobby comments after a quick pause. He sighs. "Can you send that to me?"

"Sure."

"Good," Bobby says. "I'll see if I can translate it. It might be the curse itself and if we have that, we might be able to find a reversal. Good thinking, Sam."

Sam just gives a stifled smile. Damn did it feel good to have Bobby praise him after all that happened, letting Lucifer out of his cage and all. Lizzy smiles knowingly at Sam, having clearly felt his pride in the moment.

"Thank you so much, Bobby," Lizzy makes it a point to say before they end their conversation.

"Well, it's not like I'm gonna be busy with practicing for the local ten-K or nothing. Just stay away from Dean for now," Bobby suggests strongly. "I mean opposite sides of the room if you can, maybe stay in a different room all together. And no touching…"

"Yeah, not sure they know how to do that," Sam smiles at the two, earning him glares.

"We'll call ya', Bobby," Dean says with a renewed grumpy mood and Sam ends the call.

"Well this sucks," Lizzy comments while grabbing her coat. "Let's get to Nathan's house and get the show on the road so we can go poke around that shop after. I'll also try and get Cas' ass down here later and see what he has to say too. I'd really like to de-curse my ass asap if possible."

"We need to make a stop on the way though," Sam informs them while gathering what they need for the ritual.

"For what?" Dean inquires as Sam tosses him the keys and Dean catches them.

Sam just looks between the two of them with a grin. "Prophylactics."

* * *

 


	11. Nate the Great

* * *

"You sure you're ready, Nate?" Lizzy asks the wide eyed six year old standing by her side. He looks up to her with nervous eyes but nods his head yes. "It's ok if you're a little scared. Sometimes I get scared too and I've been doing this for a while."

Nathan just looks at the grass of his front lawn below his feet. She can feel his fear from where she stands next to him and her guilt over having to bring him into the house for the cleansing grows larger by the second.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Nathan's father asks for what seems like the hundredth time.

"Sadly, yes," Lizzy answers seriously, the man's anxiety pummeling her. "We're all too familiar with this stuff and have done this way more than once. We're practically pros."

"Just please, make sure he's safe," Nathan's very obviously nervous and anxious mother says.

"That's exactly what these are for," Dean says to her as he walks from the trunk of the car parked out front toward the family. Dropping to a knee next to the small kid, Dean places a leather cord around his neck. "This," Dean says while holding up the small cloth bag tied at the bottom of the leather strap, "is a special bag. It has superpowers inside of it."

"It does?" Nathan asks with a scrunched up, skeptical face while touching the rough fabric it's made out of.

"Definitely," Dean further explains. "It keeps bad things away, like the one in your house. As long as you're wearing this, nothing can touch or hurt you."

"Really?" Nathan checks, already feeling much braver than just a few minutes before.

"Yup," Dean confirms for him.

"Is that true?" Nathan's father whispers to Lizzy, looking for reassurance.

"As nuts as it sounds, yeah," Lizzy smiles warmly, hoping to calm the parents' fears a little. "The spirit can't touch him or move him while it's on."

"And this one," Dean continues to explain while dropping another cord around Nathan's neck, "Makes you fearless. It has the powers of total bravery. I'm talking armored knight fighting a dragon kinda bravery."

Nathan holds the small pendant in his little fingers, inspecting the carvings on it.

"Now, you don't have to be scared at all." Dean smiles at Nathan and the little boy smiles back, falling for the trick completely.

"It's really to ward off evil," Lizzy quietly explains to the parents before looking down to Nathan. "What do you think, Nate? You ready to kick some butt with us?"

"Yeah," Nathan says with a lot more confidence than before as he high-five's Lizzy's leather glove-clad hand.

"You cold?" Nathan's dad asks when he notices the winter wear.

Lizzy smiles down at her covered hands. It was Sam's idea. This way if she touches anyone she'll have another layer between her and the other person's emotions. Apparently, skin on skin is when the transfer of emotions is at its worst. Once she put on the gloves she tested it on both Sam and Dean. With Sam it worked great. She could still feel his feelings but no stronger than before. And with Dean she very luckily avoided getting sucked into his soul. It seemed to work well enough to get by for now.

"Yes," Lizzy lies with a grin. "Poor circulation."

"So we're almost set but I need to go over a couple things first," Sam says as he joins the group. "Nathan, can I steal your parents for a second?"

"Ok," Nathan says meekly as Sam ushers the two adults away. He needed to explain what they were going to do and what to expect during and after the ritual. They needed to know about the four holes in the walls they'll find after the hunters stash hex bags into them in the north, south, east and west directions. They also had to be prepared for the smell of the burnt herbs they'll have around for a few days and the trashed condition the house could be in once it's all over, depending on how pissed off the poltergeist gets with their exorcism of it. Then he needed to let them know what to look out for in case this thing ever came back.

"You know," Lizzy starts while taking a seat on the grass next to Nathan. "I think it's really cool of you to be brave enough to help us like this. Most little guys your age would have been crying like babies by now."

"Really?" Nathan asks as he fiddles with his new neckwear.

"Really," Lizzy confirms.

"She's right, man," Dean adds while also taking a seat on the grass facing Lizzy. "You're doing awesome."

"Well I'm not a baby," Nathan proudly tells them.

"No you are not," Lizzy laughs. "But even though you're not a baby, I need you to do something pretty important for me. Once we head in, you can't leave my side, ok?"

"Yeah, this is a big one buddy," Dean confirms. "I need you to promise you won't leave Lizzy's sight, not even for a second. She's going to protect you at all costs so it's important that you let her."

"Ok. I promise," Nathan says while holding out his fist with only his pinky extended to Dean. His small little face looks at the hunter expectantly and he waits.

"What's that about?" Dean asks the child with confusion.

"You don't know pinky swear?" Lizzy asks incredulously before turning to Nathan. "What a looser, huh?" Lizzy makes an exaggerated face of disappointment while jerking her thumb in Dean's direction.

"Yeah," Nathan laughs at Dean expense.

"I gotcha, Nate," Lizzy says while linking her pinky into Nathan's as he promises to stay by her side the entire night.

"How was I supposed to know that?" Dean wants to know while feeling way out of the loop.

"Oh please! Only the cool kids know about pinky swear," Lizzy patronizes as she lightly elbows Nathan.

"Is that true?" Dean looks to Nathan for help.

"Yup!" Nathan answers and laughs loudly, Lizzy joining him.

"Crap, when did  _I_ become the dork?" Dean complains.

"Aw, you were always the dork," Lizzy winks to him. "Just never had the heart to tell ya'."

"You know, you get funnier every day," Dean sarcastically quips.

"Are we gonna go in now?" Nathan breaks in, clearly anxious to get going. Once the bravery and protection items were around his neck he perked up and was suddenly no longer afraid.

"As soon as Sam's ready," Dean tells him. "Now, it could get pretty crazy in there once we get going so I don't want you to be surprised and I don't want you to get worried, ok?"

"Ok," Nathan says with a concerned look.

"What Dean means is you know how sometimes thing fall off shelves or move around on their own in your house? And sometimes you hear things?" Lizzy asks Nathan, reminding him of how it's been for his family for the past few months.

"Yes," Nathan answers.

"Well that might happen still," Dean continues. "And it might be worse than before. If a lot of things in the house start moving around and breaking, don't be scared. That's just this thing getting upset because we're trying to make it leave. You're gonna have to be a big man about it."

"Will it try to come after me?" Nathan quietly questions while once more looking at his feet. He's losing all confidence quickly.

"Honestly honey, it might," Lizzy says as she pulls the kid into her lap. Nathan plops down into the center of her Indian-style lap and slumps his shoulders over. She's seriously fallen for this kid during the time she's known him. He was a sweet boy, so kind and polite and everything a person would hope for in having a child. As she feels his fears taking hold again, she wraps her arms around him in a hug while further explaining. "But that's why you have me. Dean and Sam are going to run around the house and try and get rid of the bad thing. You and I are gonna hang out in the living room and I will make sure nothing happens to you. Nothing at all. You trust me?" Lizzy cranes her neck to look at Nathan. When he looks back he smiles small and nods his head.

"I trust you," Nathan says in a small voice.

"Good," Lizzy grins, feeling his worries start to subside again. "You're one tough little dude, Nate. I like you."

"Thanks," Nate smiles and settles into Lizzy lap.

Lizzy looks over to Dean with a completely happy and utterly content expression. Seeing her sit there, talking to Nathan and doing everything she can to make him feel safe, Dean realizes what a good look it is on her. She's having one of her total motherly moments, the ones she usually reserves for when Dean or Sam are hurt or sick or sad or upset…. This is what she was destined for if one were to ask Dean. Aside from the drinking and swearing and anger, all things that would easily disappear if she had a different life away from hunting, she'd be the perfect mother and he knows that's what she wants. Of course that's out of the question with the insanity of their lives, but damn it he wants to give her that. He wants that too. A kid.  _Their_  kid. Maybe more than one. It would be something else, something really awesome. He catches himself thinking these kinds of thoughts more and more lately. Must be the whole time ticking away until the end of the world thing…

Lizzy and Nathan's giggles pull him from his thoughts as he focuses on the two of them sitting together.

"What do you call a fairy that didn't take a bath?" Nathan asks his joke to Lizzy while running his fingers over the seams of her leather gloves. Dean's mind had wandered a bit and now that it's back he finds himself watching a joke war.

"I don't know, what?" Lizzy returns with a warm grin.

"Stinkerbell!" Nathan answers with a wide smile and laughs. Lizzy laughs right along with him. It is a pretty good joke.

"Gross!" she says to him in an overly loud and happy voice. "Ok, I got one. What's the difference between boogers and broccoli?"

"What?" Nathan asks brightly.

"Kids don't eat broccoli!" Lizzy answers as Nathan laughs at her lame kid's joke. He keels over and falls off her lap, lying onto the grass on his side as his giggles take over. "Thought you'd like that one."

"Boogers! Ah!" Nathan calls out between laughs as he continues to giggle loudly.

"I got one," Dean breaks in. "There once was a man from Nantucket…"

"No!" Lizzy shouts with a huge smile while pointing accusingly at him. "Stop!"

"What? It's a good one," Dean feigns innocence.

"Yeah, it's hilarious," Lizzy smiles through her fake anger at him.

"Nah, I wouldn't say that one," Dean tells her with a smile as he watches Nathan laugh.

"I felt that, you know?" Lizzy informs him with a suspicious look.

"Felt what?" Dean challenges while knowing what she's talking about.

"You know what I'm talking about," Lizzy smiles, not saying it aloud and starting the hefty conversation fully. Now wasn't the time but she wanted him to be aware that she felt it. "And I want that too. And, we'd be really good at it."

Dean shakes his head with a grin. Shit, she can feel everything right now.

"Hey guys," Sam interrupts as he walks over to the three of them on the grass with Nathan's parents. "I think we're pretty much good to go. Everyone knows what's going on?" Sam narrows his eyes at Dean, really asking him if Nathan is prepared.

"Yup," Dean answers as he stands up and extends his hand down to Nathan. "We're ready to rock, right dude?"

"Right!" Nathan answers as Dean hoists him up and pulls him onto his back piggy-back style.

"We love you, hon," Nathan's mom tells the boy as she walks over to kiss him on the forehead as he clings onto Dean's shoulders.

"Love you too," Nathan smiles back.

"You listen to everything they tell you, ok?" Nathan's dad reminds him.

"I know. I promised," Nathan informs his dad before looking back to his mother. "Don't be scared mom. We're gonna be brave and we're gonna get rid of the bad thing so we can be safe."

"I know, baby," she answers quickly.

"If anything goes wrong I'll be out the door with him in a split second," Lizzy reiterates. "But I think this is going to go well. We're very prepared. You have nothing to worry about."

"You ready, Nate?" Dean asks over his shoulder before heading in.

"Yeah. Let's do it."

* * *

 


	12. They're Heeeeeere

* * *

"So me and Sam are gonna head upstairs for a little bit," Dean begins explaining to Nathan while in the living room of the little boy's house. "If you hear anything, don't worry about it, ok? Just stick with Lizzy down here and we'll see you in a little bit."

"Ok," Nathan says quietly, reaching up for Lizzy's hand which she happily gives to him. He grips tightly to her through the glove she wears and looks straight up to her. Lizzy's heart melts with the expression on his face and in his eyes. It's total trust. Nathan has given his wellbeing over to her and she wants to cry with the faith he displays for her. Children are amazing like that. They trust first, assume the best out of everyone until they're given a reason not to.

"We're good," Lizzy shakily tells Sam and Dean as her emotions threaten to take over. Fuck this curse right in the ass. It's making her a wreck.

"You sure?" Sam skeptically asks with narrowed eyes.

"Shut up and go, huh?" Lizzy tells them both. "I'll shout if anything happens."

The two hunters head upstairs to begin their side of the plan while Lizzy sits in the center of the salt circle they made on the dark blue carpet.

"So, any other good jokes you want to share with me?" Lizzy smiles to Nathan as he sits on the floor facing her.

"Hmm," Nathan pretends to think while tapping his chin. Lizzy grins as she watches his antics before he starts. "Why did Tigger look in the toilet?"

"Ew," Lizzy scrunches her face with the obviously gross joke coming her way. "I don't know, why?"

"He was looking for Pooh!"

"Oh, gross Nate!" Lizzy feigns disgust by sticking her tongue out as she laughs. Nathan laughs also until he hears something hitting a wall hard upstairs. His expression changes from happy to scared in a second with the bang.

"It's just Sam and Dean, kiddo," Lizzy assures. "They have to make holes in some of the walls to help get rid of the bad thing. You ok?"

"Yeah," Nathan answers in a shaky voice. She can feel the worry begin to creep into him so she keeps the distractions coming.

"You know some very good jokes," Lizzy says as they hear more loud banging. "Can you give me another?"

"I got the east done," Sam says to Dean as he joins his brother in the master bedroom. "How's west coming?"

"Pretty much done," Dean answers while swinging one last time, his small sledgehammer knocking the already made hole in the dry wall into a slightly bigger one. He reaches into his pocket and drops a hex bag into the hole as Sam starts fishing out some more items from his duffel. "Alright, just the kitchen and living room to go."

"Here," Sam says while handing over a twine-tied bundle of herbs that they made back at the motel from what they picked up at the gypsy shop. Mostly Sage with a couple extra herbs that Missouri had suggested. "We'll do a full sweep up here before heading down."

Dean takes his Zippo out of his jacket and lights the herbs, the smoke from both bundles immediately curling into translucent tendrils into the air. They separate to cover the area faster and walk through each room on the floor, the smoke filling the air and hopefully driving away the evil that's taken up residence here.

When a full sweep is almost done Sam stands at the top of the stairs, watching as Dean finishes up the last room.

"We've got activity guys!" Lizzy's voice suddenly calls from the living room and almost immediately after they all hear the shattering of something in the kitchen. Sam quickly looks to Dean.

"You good to finish up here?" Sam asks quickly.

"Yeah, go," Dean says as he rushes to get the task at hand done so he can help out where the activity is. Sam leaves the doorway and starts pounding his feet down the stairs.

"What happened?" Sam asks Lizzy before he even makes it all the way down the staircase.

"The family portrait began rattling," Lizzy explains in her best I'm-not-alarmed-in-the-least voice. "Then I called up to you two and something in the kitchen smashed. We're ok in here though, right Nate?" Lizzy looks over to Nathan with a warm smile to hopefully get a positive reaction from him as the shaking and shattering around the house made him very nervous.

"Right," Nathan says with only half certainty.

"You're doing great, Nathan," Sam assures as he takes off for the kitchen. He finds shards of broken glass all over the floor by the counter along with several apples strewn about. It was the crystal fruit bowl Sam remembers seeing on the counter when they first gave the house a once over. Without pause he drops his bag by the northern facing wall and takes out his mallet. Running his fingers over the drywall he feels for seems until he finds a spot that he's confident will work. Sam takes a strong swing. The second the head of the mallet drives through the wall one of the apples that had been on the floor smashes into the wall a few inches from where Sam is standing, just missing his head. He jumps at first with the unexpected impact, eyes searching around the room for any other immediate threats, but then he ignores the whole thing and takes another swing to widen the hole just slightly. Once he makes contact again, several shards of glass come flying in his direction, the largest piece grazing his arm and slicing his skin open. The sharp sections of crystal hurl themselves into the drywall, several of them getting stuck into it.

"Fuck!" Sam complains as he sees his arm begin to bleed.

After hearing Sam swear loudly, Nathan's confidence drains as does the color in his face and he whips his little head to Lizzy with alarm.

"You ok Sam-I-Am?" she evenly asks over to him without even a hint of concern in her voice. She needs Nathan to relax if he's going to get through this. She also needs Nathan to relax if  _she's_ going to get through this. His emotions keep hitting her pretty hard with their severity.

"Yeah," Sam shouts back as Dean comes flying down the stairs.

"What happened?" he asks with worry after hearing his brother shout. "Where's Sam?"

"Right here," Sam answers as he walks into the living room, duffel over his shoulder and a dishrag being pressed onto his bleeding forearm.

"Are you hurt?" Nathan asks with super wide eyes. Lizzy can feel the panic and a little bit of blame taking the child over. The little guy knows this thing, whatever it is, is only there because it's attached to him. He feels like Sam's injury is his entire fault.

"I'm fine," Sam assures. "It was just an accident."

"And it had nothing to do with you. See, we're still ok," Lizzy says as she grabs Nathan's hand. The little boy scoots over and crawls into her lap. He settles in much like he had out on the lawn before coming inside. Lizzy looks to Dean and Sam and shakes her head, letting them know how much of a toll this is already taking on the child.

"Let's move, Sammy," Dean says while taking his mallet out of his bag once more. He nods his head towards Nathan to let Lizzy know he might get a little freaked.

"Cover your ears, hon," Lizzy tells Nathan and he does so, Lizzy covering over his hands with her own gloved ones for insurance. Dean hits the wall and Nathan jumps. He watches as the man he just met puts a hole in his house. He's confused to say the least so once the wall smashing is done, Lizzy tries to explain. "See what Dean's putting in the wall?" she points to the hex bag in his grip.

"Yeah," Nathan answers.

"That is going to help make the bad thing leave for good. It's kinda like the one around your neck. It'll protect you."

Dean pauses before finishing this step of their ritual and turns to face Nathan with a cool and collected tone. "Alright dude, I'm gonna need you to be brave right now, ok?" Dean warns. "It might get a little crazy in here once I put this in the wall. Can you be brave for us?"

Nathan just nods his head slightly as he beings to shake with nerves. Lizzy wraps her arms around his tiny frame, his anxiety transferring slightly harder onto her as she does, and she takes a very deep breath. Nodding to Dean, she gives him the go ahead.

Dean tosses the hex back into the wall and immediately a huge, ominous boom sounds throughout the house. All three hunters flinch and look around with surprise as Nathan slams his hands over his ears once more, his little body shaking even more.

"The hell was that?" Sam asks after they don't see anything around that could have caused the massive sound.

"No idea," Dean answers. "Let's keep going. I get the feeling that this thing isn't exactly thrilled with us now." Dean looks over to Lizzy and she reads his thoughts immediately. He's nervous now, nervous that the poltergeist will try to come after Nathan and, in turn, her.

"Go!" she tells him while tightening her grip on the small kid. Sam and Dean head to the dining room where they had already set up for the second part the cleansing ritual.

Standing at the dining room table, the candles lit and large gold ritual bowl filled with the necessary herbs , Sam opens the Latin bible to the reading they will need.

"Dean," Sam calls over to his brother. "I've got this in here if you want to stay in the living room." He saw the worry in Dean's whole body as he left Lizzy alone in there with Nathan.

Dean's torn completely with the offer. His brother needs his back up incase this thing gets pissed at his attempt to expel it but at the same time Lizzy is unprotected and left with helpless Nathan on the other side of the house. Shit…

"No," Dean answers as he walks over to Sam and tightens the dishtowel Sam had tied around his bleeding arm once he's made a snap decision. "Start reading, Sammy. L's good in there and she'll yell if she needs us."

Sam nods and takes out a book of matches. He lights one and lets it burn for a second while inhaling deeply. "Here goes nothing."

He drops the lit match into the bowl and the herbs flash brightly once before they start to smolder.

"Denique , exsisto validus in senior quod in suus validus vox," Sam begins to read and immediately the lights that are turned on in the house flicker in unison. "Inicio plenus loricatus of Deus , ut vos can take vestri obsto devilâs propositum." Sam stops when they hear a loud, shattering pop in the room next door.

Dean swiftly walks out of the room and into the hallway, stopping in the middle of it where he can see into the living room and the dining room at the same time.

"What's going on in there?" Dean yells to Lizzy.

"Light bulb burst," she shouts back. "We're good."

That wasn't exactly the truth. Nathan has a death grip on Lizzy's arms that are still around him and he's not holding up very well by now. He only gets worse when the lights finally stop flickering and all go out in unison.

"Sammy! Keep reading," Dean yells to his brother once they're thrown into darkness.

"Pro nostrum nixor est non obviam viscus quod cruor , tamen obviam satraps , obviam authorities , obviam vox illae atrum universitas quod obviam phasmatis copiae copie of malum in uranicus regnum. Shit!" Sam shouts out and ducks, getting out of the way just in time as a plate comes flying off a shelf on the other side of the room and toward his head. The fine china hits the wall behind him and it shatters loudly.

"Sam!" Dean's footsteps are heard marching quickly down the hall. Dean finds himself in a strange game of ping pong between checking on Lizzy and watching over Sam as the house gets more and more active by the second.

"I'm fine, Dean!" Sam shouts back. He knows now that he needs to get this done fast with the increasing assaults. As Dean rushes back into the dining room Sam keeps reading. "Proinde inicio plenus loricatus of Deus , ut ut dies of malum adveho , vos may polleo subsisto vestri humus…"

The sound of the large server cabinet scraping across the floor makes him pause once more. The heavy furniture slides quickly and rams straight into Dean, pushing him backwards until he's pinned between it and the wall.

"Ah! Shit!" Dean shouts out in between the heavy furniture and the hard wall, his pelvis and upper legs getting the brunt of the blow. His upper body slumps over the cabinet at first as he adjusts to the pain. At the same time as Dean cries out with the torment, so does Lizzy from the living room.

"Lizzy!" Nathan shouts when he hears her yell in obvious pain. He turns around in her lap and looks at her contorted face. "What's wrong!?" He's so confused. Nothing had touched her or even come near them.

"Nothing's wrong," she struggles out through the sudden mystery pain she feels in her lower half as she lets go of Nathan and grasps onto her hips with the ache in them. She begins to worry instantaneously. The only reason she's ever felt phantom pain like this is when Dean was hurt. "Dean!"

"I'm alright, L!" Dean lies to her through a struggled voice before turning to look at Sam. "Keep going!" The furniture continues crushing him as he tries to push against it with no avail. It won't budge as the invisible force keeping it there is stronger than him.

"Quod secundum vos have perfectus panton , subsisto. Consto tunc , per belt of verum buckled inter vestri waist , per thorax of righteousness in locus."

Lizzy's attention is pulled away from her pain temporarily as she watches the family portrait that had been trembling before falls off the wall, smashing onto the floor. A sudden, inexplicable wind is felt throughout the home and Lizzy panics. The salt line, though thick, is not meant to hold up to such an attack. She watches helplessly as the grains of salt start to scatter as the unexplainable breeze picks up and the line eventually breaks.

"Get up," Lizzy says while quickly standing and pulling Nathan to his feet. She hugs him into her side and he wraps his arms around her waist. They need to be on their feet in case they need to flee suddenly since their little force field is now useless. She stumbles forward a few steps when she feels something nudge her in the back. Of course nothing was there.

"Lizzy…" Nathan nervously looks up to her as he shivers in fright. Worried for him, she picks the boy up and perches him onto her hip. As they both wrap their arms around each other, Lizzy realizes what a mistake she's made. Nathan, hugging her in with all his strength, presses his cheek to hers and Lizzy is hit like a Mack truck with his fear. She's flooded by it completely and it makes her stunned, her brain scrambled by panic.

"Nathan, calm down," Lizzy tries to bring the child back down. "Please , dude. For me. We're both ok, right?"

"Yeah," he answers with his face buried under her hair into her neck as he tries desperately to hide from the scary things around him.

"So relax," Lizzy tries again without it working. "Buddy, you gotta do this for me. It's really important that you be brave and stop being scared." She brings a hand to the back of his head and grips him in tight while she turns a full three-sixty around the room. Trying to catch any looming threats early on she freezes in her place when she watches the very large, single paned living room picture window begin to quiver violently.

"Quod per vestri feet aptus per readiness ut adveho ex evangelium of pacis," Sam continues to read while he can hear both Lizzy and Dean struggling horribly around him.

"Hurry Sam!" Dean's voice shouts out through gritted teeth as the heavy furniture continues to pin him. He's hurting and knows Lizzy must be two. She can always feel his anguish as her own and he hopes it isn't interfering with her keeping Nathan safe.

"Ut totus is, suscipio contego of fides, quicum vos can extinguish totus flamma telum of malum unus."

The entire house begins to shake as Sam prepares to finish the reading.

"Take galea of salus quod mucro of Phasmatis, quod est vox of Deus!"

The house quakes with the loud burst that that reverberates throughout the entire structure and at the same time the loud shattering of glass can be heard from the living room.

Lizzy feels the foundations of the house begin to vibrate under her feet. Thinking quickly, she shoves her hand in between her and Nathan's cheeks, making their skin separate, and she instantly regains her wits. The fear subsiding enough for her to function, Lizzy reacts last minute and dives to the floor just before the forceful jolt rocks through the house. It causes the window to blow into the room with the surge of energy.

As she fell to the floor she got Nathan lying on his side with his back against the bottom of the couch. Lizzy fell on top of him, covering her body over his completely for protection.

The shards of glass rain down over them the second the window breaks and as soon as it happens it's over. The house is absolutely silent for a few seconds before she hears Dean and Sam's voices in the other room. Deciding it best not to move with sharp shards of glass all around them, Lizzy holds still and starts talking to Nathan to ensure he's ok.

"Nathan?" Lizzy calls out his name. "Nathan, talk to me."

"Lizzy," Nathan's sob choked voice answers her.

"Don't move, ok?" Lizzy instructs. "Sam and Dean will come get us soon. Did you get hurt?"

"I want my mom." His small, torn voice makes her so sad to hear that she wants once more to cry.

"I know you do, hon," Lizzy says to him, the boy shaking all over. "We're gonna go to them real soon. Stay tough with me. We're almost done. Are you hurt at all?"

"No," Nathan chokes out and Lizzy lets out a very relieved breath.

Nathan's sadness continues to fill the quiet room as Lizzy works so hard to not let his sorrow take her emotions over. She strains to listen to what's happening in the other room, hearing some large furniture scraping the floor as the pain in her hips and upper legs finally starts to lessen. It's then that she feels the pain of her own wounds. Her arm she's laying on underneath her hurts along with the back of her calf, but not so badly that she's worried. She's felt worse before, much worse.

"Lizzy!" Dean calls out as she can hear the sound of his heavy boots getting closer to her.

"We're good!" Lizzy calls out while still facing the couch. "Just get the glass off so we can get up."

"Nate, how you doing in there?" Dean calls out as he pulls his bare hands into his jacket sleeves to protect them and begins removing the sharp pieces off of Lizzy's body.

"I'm scared," Nathan answers.

"You did great, dude," Dean assures him while continuing his work. "And it's all over. Nothing's going to bother you anymore."

"Really?" his small, blocked voice asks.

"Really," Dean answers as Sam comes in and helps him clear off Lizzy. "Oh crap."

"What?" Lizzy asks quickly when she feels Dean's hands inspecting her lower leg.

"Ah, well, you got a little stabbed," Dean says calmly, obviously trying to not alarm her.

"It's not too bad though," Sam reassures as he runs to the kitchen to get her the other dishrag he saw hanging off the stove handle.

"I think you're ok," Dean tells her as he grabs her gloved hand when they clear away as much glass as possible from the two. "Move slow in case we missed something."

"Crap," Lizzy complains lowly as she steps onto her stabbed leg, the pain hitting her once there is weight on it. It hurts more than she'd expect it to but at this point in her life it wasn't unmanageable.

"Oh no!" Nathan cries out as Dean pulls him onto his feet. "Lizzy! You're leg!"

She looks down to see it. The glass shard, which is quite large, is still sticking straight out of her. To most people it'd look pretty bad, but to Lizzy it was just another day.

"Nah, it's not so bad. My leg will be fine, don't you worry," Lizzy smiles to him while holding out her hand to Sam who is extending the clean rag in her direction.

"Sit down," Dean tells her while pointing to the recliner that had been out of reach for the glass shrapnel. Lizzy lowers down into it as Dean kneels on the floor in front of her.

"You're arm's a mess," Sam points out, seeing the shredded cloth of her long sleeved shirt covered in deep red stains. "Might have to go glass fishing later."

"That's ok. I can hack it," Lizzy smiles at Nathan as Dean pops her ankle up on his shoulder, looking at the glass piece in the underside of her leg.

"Ready?" Dean asks but doesn't wait for an answer. He pulls the large chunk of glass out of her lower leg and immediately covers over it with the rag. Much like Sam had done to his arm earlier, Dean ties the cloth tightly around her calf to stop the bleeding that began as soon as the obstruction was out.

"Alright, we can finish patching me up later," Lizzy calmly answers while standing up from her seat. She walks to Nathan and takes his hand. "What do you say we go outside and say hi to mom and dad? We can tell them the good news that the bad thing is gone."

Nathan smiles wide and starts marching for the door. They carefully navigate their way around the many sharp pieces and walk out of the house together.

Sam and Dean make their way to the front door, Dean stretching his sure-to-be-sore-tomorrow muscles as he does, and they watch Lizzy walk Nathan to his waiting parents. When Nathan sees them he lets go of Lizzy's hand and sprints to them, crashing into his father in a huge hug that his mother quickly joins into also.

"Alright. It was worth it," Dean grumbles to himself as he views the family happily embracing while slowly moving his body to hopefully loosen up his muscles and take away some of the pain.

"Huh?" Sam questions, unsure of where Dean is going with that remark.

"That," Dean nods to the scene. "Seeing that makes the crap all worth it."

"Oh," Sam says, surprised by the comment his brother makes. "Definitely. S'why we do this shit, right?"

"Right."

Sam then studied his brother's face as he watches Nathan with his parents. Longing. It's clear as day on him and it gets even stronger when he sees Nathan jump onto Lizzy in a big thank you hug.

"She wants that, doesn't she?" Sam asks Dean.

"Who wants what now?" Dean asks with a confused expression as he's snapped out of his train of thought.

"Lizzy," Sam explains himself. "She wants that."

Dean stays quiet, still keeping his sights trained on the family as they thank Lizzy, Nathan perched on her hip and his arms around her neck in a big hug.

"I kinda figured after seeing her with Nathan," Sam says, taking Dean's silence for the answer that it is. "The family, the kid, the house… she wants out."

"Of course she does," Dean shrugs. "This, hunting, was supposed to be temporary thing for her."

"What do you mean?" Sam questions

"She never meant to make this her entire life," Dean further explains. "Told me when we first met that she was gonna get out at some point, do the regular life thing. Of course that was before…"

"Lou died," Sam finishes for his brother, knowing Lou's death really changed a lot for Lizzy.

"And she met me," Dean guiltily adds. "And you. And before Cas and the angel link and all the rest of the shit."

"There's no getting out for her, is there?" Sam asks with a heavy heart.

"Sammy, I'm starting to think there's no getting out for any of us."

The silence grips their conversation again when they watch on, Lizzy now explaining the mess the house is in and assuring Nathan's parents that her injuries are nothing to worry about, all the while with Nathan still in her hold. He has his cheek pressed against her shoulder as the excitement of the night catches up to him. Now that he knows he's safe, he's exhausted. Nathan's so comfortable with her that his eyelids droop and he starts to fall asleep in her arms.

"You think about that ever, that kinda life?" Sam asks, knowing full well that Dean does. "You want that?"

"Doesn't matter what I want," Dean answers, never taking his eyes off of Lizzy as she treats Nathan with such love and warmth. "It can't happen so why bother thinking about it?"

"Yeah…" Sam trails off. "I think about it too sometimes."

It was so unfair. Dean and Lizzy would be great with kids. They balance each other out so well that Sam can only assume they'd make a well balanced, well adjusted, and very happy family. Both would do anything to give their child or children the best life they could. Dean and Lizzy love each other so much that Sam sometimes believes they need to have a kid to share that with or else it's honestly a waste. They deserve that life but life seems pretty fucking dead set against giving it to them.

"Eh, I'd probably fuck up a kid anyways," Dean huffs sadly. "I'm not exactly a model citizen, right?"

Dean slaps a hand onto Sam shoulder before he walks outside to pack up the car, effectively ending their conversation. They need to get Lizzy back to fix up her wounds before heading to that gypsy shop anyways. With how many times he thought the whole family thing through and through, Dean doesn't need to talk it out also. It'll never happen. Just wasn't ever in the cards for him or for Lizzy, no matter how much they might want it.

Life sucks, get a helmet someone once said to him…. Best advice he's ever been given.

* * *

 


	13. What Do You Do for Money, Honey?

* * *

"Butterfly bandages should be enough to close that up. No stitches this time," Dean tells Lizzy while she's lies on her stomach across their bed in the motel room and Dean inspects the damage. The second they got back he was a hovering annoyance just like every time she got hurt. He was on her immediately, trying to poke and prod and be just plain helpful (all the while being too damn much if one were to ask Lizzy) when she had to remind him that he can't help out. The no touching rule is still in effect.

"Whoo hoo!" Lizzy cheers, happy to avoid having to go through getting sewn back up yet again.

"Although, I think your jeans are officially done for," Dean tells her, holding up her pants that had been on the floor for her to see the decent sized tear in the fabric of the leg that's surrounded by a good amount of blood.

"Well shit, I'll just have to go shopping and replace them," Lizzy jests as her eyes light up. As non-girly as she usually is, she still had her super girly things about her, like her love of going shopping. It used to be something she and Lou would do now and then when they had a successful night hustling pool or making a killing playing poker. They also did it to keep themselves tied into the real world as shopping was a normal thing that normal people did with their free time.

"Not with  _my_  cash you ain't," Dean seriously warns, remembering the last time she went out shopping. Before she left she lifted some cash from his wallet as she had been low at the time. Lizzy paid him back quickly of course but it was the principal of the thing really. "No cleaning me out this time. You're gonna have to earn some dough on your own first."

"Then I'll be sure to scope out a good street corner the next time we roll through town." Lizzy grins to Dean as he rolls his eyes at her joke. She turns toward Sam that's sitting to her side on the floor, working on her arm. "Hey Sam, you want dibs on my first customer? I'll give you the friend discount."

"You're ridiculous," Sam mutters as he sits on the carpet off to the side of the bed and pulls another tiny shard of glass from her skin with tweezers. She had landed hard on some of the shattered window pieces and her right arm is pretty cut up. The cuts are small however and Sam really has to focus to find all the little pieces. They needed to be cleared out before he can bandage her up.

"C'mon," Lizzy keeps going while swatting Sam's arm playfully. "I'll even guarantee a good time or your money back."

Sam allows himself to look up at her for a quick second, catching the glint in her eyes as she jokes around with him and instantly pulls his focus back to her injured arm. It was bad enough that she was only wearing her underwear from the waist down. Now she's joking about sleeping with him. If it weren't for the latex gloves he found in her medical supplies acting as a barrier, she'd definitely be feeling his attraction to her right now. Damn, he's got to figure this out. Maybe he should just suck it up and tell her. Lizzy is an excellent problem solver and would no doubt keep this from Dean if he asked her to… but then the embarrassment and awkwardness afterwards might kill him.

"L, never make that guarantee," Dean says to her. "Anybody could claim that you sucked and could get their cash back after services rendered. That's just bad business."

"But if I sucked… wouldn't that be a good thing?" Lizzy rebuts quickly while laughing.

"Hold still," Sam very seriously directs to her as her laughing shook her arm and made his job tougher.

Lizzy looks over to Dean and makes a face, letting him know she thought Sam was acting a bit off and being quite petulant.

"Loosen up, Sam-I-Am," Lizzy tells him. "I'm just messing with you."

"When are you not?" Sam quietly remarks, the statement having a much different meaning to him than it does to her.

"Dude, lighten up," Dean tells his brother while tossing a box of butterfly bandages onto the bed for him. "We had a good night for once. The good guys won so be happy."

"And Nathan's safe now," Lizzy adds with a huge smile. "Added bonus."

"I'm saying," Dean smiles back.

"I'm not in a bad mood," Sam defends himself while going after the last piece of glass he could find. "Just concentrating."

"Yeah, that's all it is," Lizzy sarcastically remarks.

"Hey, don't bite the hand that patches you up," Sam fires back with a hint of levity. "And I'm done digging."

"Nice," Lizzy happily says while getting up and grabbing the now almost empty Jack Daniels bottle off of the table before heading to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror she sees the many small cuts in her arm. "Fuck. So not cool."

"How you keep avoiding fucking up your left arm, I'll never understand," Dean comments. Every time she's gotten a potentially scarring injury on an arm it's always her right which is excellent considering the very important and coveted artwork covering her left.

"No shit, huh?" Lizzy answers as she unscrews the bottle cap. "One for me," she says while taking a swig. "One for you," she tells her arm while dousing the cuts to sterilize them.

"Need help with the leg?" Dean asks as he watches her easily lift her leg high and place her foot into the sink.

"Nah," Lizzy answers as she kills the bottle when she pours the remaining booze down the back of her leg. "What about your arm, Sam? You need that stitched or anything?"

"Nah, I think I'm good," Sam answers, already having assessed his own slice. "As soon as I patch you for good we need to get the hell outta here," Sam says as Lizzy emerges from the bathroom. "I'd like to grab some sleep tonight after checking out the shop."

"What's with you and sleep lately?" Dean asks with concern. "You slept late today, which you never do, and you want to make sure you get another solid night in? Since when was rest a priority for you, Sammy?"

Sam sighs as really he's trying to avoid Lizzy. When he's asleep he doesn't run the risk of feeling too much for her and letting her know while her whole emotional state is going haywire. Sleep is safe.

"Since I've been exhausted lately," Sam lies. "Maybe I'm getting sick or something."

"That's not good," Lizzy comments while walking towards him as he sits at the edge of the bed she was just lying across.

"Great," Sam complains as she eyes him over carefully. "Now I'm gonna have mom watching me like a fucking hawk. Never shoulda said a thing."

"Oh, I'm  _so_  sorry that you have someone in your life that loves you so much, Sam," Lizzy exaggeratedly tells him with clear annoyance in her voice as she presses the back of her hand to his forehead. "If I didn't worry and force you to take care of yourself the little bit that you actually do, you'd be dead by now, I swear."

"No touching, remember?" Sam says to her while pushing her hand away.

"Yeah, no touching  _Dean_ ," she reminds him. "I can still touch you Sammy Boy…" Lizzy slyly says while running her hand through his hair and winking.

"Lizzy, would you please let me finish patching you up so we can go?" Sam asks in as kind a voice as he can manage while his anxiety of her getting any kind of inappropriate emotion from him dominates his thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah," Lizzy rolls her eyes and flops back onto the bed stomach down. "At least you don't feel warm."

Sam takes out a couple butterfly bandages and sets to work on her leg, all the while once more willing himself to not stare at her scantily clad ass or linger too long on her smooth, long legs.

* * *

"Hey," Dean whispers to get the attention of his currently breaking and entering companions. "What do you get when you stick your hand up a gypsy's skirt during the wrong time of the month?"

"Really?" Lizzy complains as she aims her flashlight's beam at the door while Sam works on getting the lock open.

"You get you're palm red, ha," Dean laughs to himself while Lizzy just shakes her head. "Oh, come on! You were laughing you ass off before at Nathan's lame jokes."

"His were better," Lizzy remarks.

"Please, you have to admit. That was pretty good."

"Just hilarious," Sam mutters mid-pick before hearing the lock click open. He stands up from his kneeling position and takes his gun out from behind his back. Lizzy hands him the second flashlight she had tucked under her arm. Shining the light ahead of him, Sam pushes the rear entrance of the gypsy shop open slowly and takes a couple cautious steps inside, Lizzy and Dean hot on his heels.

All three slowly make their way into the store's back room with handguns trained ahead of them. Sam silently slinks into the front of the shop while Lizzy and Dean check out the storage area.

"What the fuck?" Dean quietly says while scanning the shelving and old cupboards. "Where is everything?"

"I don't know," Lizzy comments with sheer confusion. The entire back room is completely empty. Not an herb nor an occult item to be found, just bare wooden shelves, barren cupboards with doors wide open, and a few empty glass jars. "Where did she get the crap she sold us if the stockroom had nothing in it?"

"It wasn't empty earlier today," Sam informs them in a normal volume voice as he rejoins them in the back of the store. He holds up a 'for rent' sign for them both to see. "The gypsy must have cleared the place out after we left. This was in the front window. She ditched."

"What!?" Lizzy wonders with panic. "Why would she do that!?"

"She's a fucking gypsy," Dean remarks. "Who knows."

"How am I gonna get this curse off me then?" Lizzy asks with worry. She can't stay this way and talking to the old woman was really all they had going for them.

"We'll have to find another way," Dean explains, knowing they've done this tons of times before. They've become quite adept at finding a plan B. "Start searching. Maybe she forgot something that can help us."

"Son of a bitch," Lizzy mutters to herself as she begins searching the cabinets and drawers.

"I think you say that more than I do now," Dean remarks with a stone face as he joins her and Sam head out to the front of the store to rummage around there. It's quiet for a long while, the only sound being that of the hunters moving around the store. After a good amount of time, all three come up empty handed.

"Awesome," Dean's exasperates. At this point, the answer to their problem is constantly looking further and further away.

"Fuck this," Lizzy says with ire as she closes her eyes tight. "Dear ol' Castiel, who art somewhere in the universe doing God only knows what, please get your cute little feathery butt down here and help me."

Silence and quiet.

"Where is he?" Sam asks when the angel doesn't show.

"Really far. Usually I wouldn't even be able to feel him he's so far right now," she answers with a concentrated expression. "Cassie, I really need you. Please?" She says it with love, using her childhood name for him.

"He can't find us, remember? Rib carv…" Sam reminds Lizzy at the exact time that Castiel pops into the room.

"What do you need?" Castiel asks her, instantly standing by her side.

"Help," she exasperatedly says to him. "I've been cursed."

"Cursed?" Castiel asks with shock. "How did that happen?"

"Gypsy."

"You're lack of good luck astounds me quite often, Elizabeth," Castiel complains with her basic explanation.

"You and I both," Lizzy huffs. "You know how I have, like, a link to Dean?"

"I am well aware."

"Well, the gypsy screwed with it," she informs him. "I can feel  _everyone_  around me now, and if Dean touches me I get sucked into his emotional state. It's like I can feel Dean's greatest hits. It blows."

"Then I suggest you do not make physical contact with him for the time being," Castiel advises strongly.

"Yeah, we've figured that much," Dean responds.

"I am being very serious," Castiel reiterates, knowing the intensity of their physical relationship. "You really should not have any kind of corporeal manner of relations…"

"Yeah, no sex, we know," Dean loudly and grumpily makes plain for the angel

"We're thinking that we need to talk to the gypsy that did this to me," Lizzy further clues him in.  
"But she skipped town before we could. She'd definitely know how to break this thing… we kinda need her."

"I assume the same." Castiel pauses and stares vacantly off into the distance for a quick few seconds. "She cannot be found."

"Can't be found, as in  _you_  can't find her?" Sam questions tensely.

"Exactly," Castiel confirms. "She's hidden from me."

"How is that possible?" Dean wonders aloud.

"I cannot be sure, but she's well covered from my scope of sight. Much like you three are. A gypsy that powerful most likely remains cloaked at all times."

"Wait a minute… how  _did_  you find me?" Lizzy asks quickly when something dawns on her. "If you did the whole rib carving thing to me then you shouldn't have been able to know where I was."

"Then why did you pray for me if you knew this?" Castiel flips the conversation.

"Habit," Lizzy brushes aside. "I'm used to being able to call out to you whenever I need you. I've done that a few times before remembering it's not supposed to work anymore. Seriously though, how did you find me?"

"I guess our link to each other overpowers the carvings with this curse," Castiel tries to rationalize. "I can feel you still. If I follow that feeling I can get to you still."

"That'll probably come in handy," Dean comments.

"I believe it will," Castiel agrees. "I have to say I am a bit bothered by the power this gypsy holds. She has to have great knowledge and ability to override an angel's doing. If you do find her, be very careful around her. Please let me know what you find and if you need assistance." He looks at Lizzy with a more serious than usual expression. "I expect to be updated frequently." And he's gone.

"Head back and call Bobby then?" Sam asks the obvious.

"As per usual," Dean returns.

"This fucking sucks," Lizzy complains while angrily stomping out the back door.

* * *

"What do ya' mean she's gone?" Bobby asks loudly over the speaker of Sam's cell phone.

"We mean the gypsy hauled ass outta town," Sam repeats. The three hunters are all sitting or standing around the small table in the motel room while Sam's phone sits in the middle of it on speaker mode. "Store was completely empty when we got there, no sign of her."

"That's just weird," Bobby says without surprise. "And really suspicious."

"Damn straight," Lizzy returns. "Cas thinks so too. You and Sam were right; my link with him is sharper too. Also, he's thinking that this gypsy is super juiced up because she's off his radar. He couldn't help us find her."

"Shit, shit, and more shit," Bobby complains.

"What else is new," adds Dean

"Well at least I got a little somethin' on my end," Bobby tries to find a bright side for Lizzy's sake. "I looked into that voice recording Sam sent me of what the gypsy said to curse Liz. I think I cracked it too. It's Romanian just like I thought and you were very close Sam, just a little off. I think what she said was Vă veţi simţi toate altii simt, extinderii cadoul dvs."

"Know-it-all," Sam quips at Bobby's correction of him.

"Directly translated, it means 'you will feel what all others feel, extending your gift'."

"Sounds about right for what it's done," Dean remarks. "So you ever broken a gypsy curse before?"

"No, can't say that I have," Bobby says sadly. "Broken tons of witch curses, but never a gypsy. I try to steer clear from their kind if I can."

"So will I from now on!" Lizzy quickly says, knowing that she'll never deal with another gypsy ever again if she can help it.

"Wait a minute," Dean loudly interrupts. "Bobby, you're the one who sent us there! If you hate gypsies, why would you do that?"

"Only place for miles and miles that had what you needed," Bobby simply and all too easily explains. "Gotta do what ya' gotta do, right?"

"Oh what the f…" Dean starts.

"It's fine!" Lizzy stops him from complaining or further insulting their go-to guy. As fucked as she is with this curse, it certainly wasn't Bobby's fault. He was just doing his best to help them. "I'll be fine until we figure this out, and we  _will_ figure this out fast! I can't deal with the ridiculous waves of emotions hammering me, especially from you two. You know, some pretty hefty sessions with a therapist might do you disasters some good."

"Bite me," Sam and Dean say to her in unison.

"Maybe not…" Lizzy jests.

"So what's the next step on our end you think, Bobby?" Sam asks.

"I say you somehow figure out where this gypsy is," Bobby tells him.

"She's not gonna help us," Dean rebuts with animosity. "She put this curse on L for some reason unknown to us. Why would she want to help take it off?"

"Because she never hated me," Lizzy answers. "She didn't like you and Sam, but she liked me. Maybe she won't be against helping me."

"Doubt it…" Dean says, still sure that the old woman would be less than friendly to them if they were to find her.

"No, Lizzy, you might be on to something there," Sam says while turning to Lizzy. "She was always nice to you until she booted us outta there, right?"

"Yeah," Lizzy answers, a look of curiosity being sent Sam's way.

"So what if this isn't about you then," Sam says while his brain flies a mile a minute. "What if it's about us?"

"What do ya' mean?" Bobby questions, not completely following Sam's logic.

"I'm not sure why, but maybe she wants Lizzy to figure something out about us," Sam says with trepidation. "Like to protect her from us or something."

"We'll call that a scary working theory," Dean says to his brother. He's highly uncomfortable with that idea.

"It's a pretty good one," Lizzy admits. "I can see that as being the case, especially with how concerned she was. She really wanted to warn me about Sam especially."

"What do you mean?" Dean quickly questions with a wrinkled brow.

"Well…" Sam starts, sending Lizzy a look that tells her he's going to spill what the gypsy said. Knowing he has to, Lizzy just sighs in preparation. "Remember when the gypsy told Lizzy someone she knows will try to kill her?"

"What!?" Bobby shouts. "When did she say that!?"

"During the tarot reading from hell," Lizzy succinctly explains. "She told me someone close to me, that I love, will try to kill me but be unsuccessful. Then the next time I went in with Sam she kinda alluded to the fact that it would be him."

"When were you two gonna tell me this!?" Dean shouts out in sudden anger.

"Once we figured out my emotional thing," Lizzy calmly tells him, hoping to lower his alarm. "One problem at a time, just like you always say."

Dean sighs but keeps his mouth shut. He's pissed of course, but she was using his own tactic of dealing with issues. How could he be mad at that?

"Well fuck, kids," Bobby laments. "You really know how to find nasty trouble, don't cha?"

"We've gone pro at it," Lizzy returns.

"So basically, we're at a dead end right now," Bobby tells them. "I can try and dig up some curse cure that will work for this one but it ain't gonna be easy. I'll also call up some hunters that might have dealt with this kinda thing before. You guys get on figurin' out where this bitch is right now so that we can track her down and hopefully get her help, whether it's forced help or not."

"Will do," Sam answers back, his mind already turning with ways to locate the gypsy.

"Call me with any changes," Bobby adds on. "And don't be stupid, huh?"

Once the call was ended, Dean looks at the concern on Lizzy's face. He reaches out to grab her hand, his usual way to show his support silently, but stops short. No touching, right….

"Um, is there any way you guys could leave me here for a little while?" Sam pipes up. "Just for, like, an hour?"

"Why?" Dean wonders with heavy suspicion.

"I want to do some research," Sam lies completely while acting as casually as he can. "Without distraction. We're in a time crunch and I think I might be able to locate her if you give me some time to work on it alone."

"That's weird," Lizzy tells Sam, eyes narrowed in his direction.

"You two being around doesn't make research very easy," Sam explains, this being the honest truth. "TV on, always talking or bickering or playing music too loud. Or flirting and making me wanna hurl onto my laptop. All I'm asking for is an hour, two tops."

Exchanging looks of cynicism, Lizzy and Dean both return their focus to Sam.

"Fine, Mysterioso," Dean tells him. "I think you're lying, but fine."

"Dean…" Sam tries to justify himself.

"No, I said it's fine," Dean answers, his mistrust taking over as he grabs his keys and jacket. "You do what you gotta do, Sam. And if you're gonna act stupid, don't let me know about it." He marches out the door and toward the Impala with clear anger. Their rift is still wide and deep, and Dean still quite obviously doesn't know how to handle it. Sam looks to Lizzy to see if she's just as leery and he can see in her eyes, as much as she tries to hide it, that she is.

"This isn't what we're thinking is it, right?" Lizzy wonders to Sam as she makes it clear that she and Dean are both thinking he's about to do something bad, like demon bad, like demon  _blood_  bad.

"No," Sam promises truthfully. "You know I've learned from my mistakes, Lizzy."

Lizzy just nods her response, grabs her coat, and leaves. She's just as concerned as Dean and leaving felt wrong, but if they were to ever build up trust in Sam again they had to give him a chance to prove himself. She just hopes that when they get back Sam is still there and still him.

* * *

 


	14. Flo Wants to Jump Your Bones, Dude

* * *

"What can I get you?" the pretty waitress asks while eyeing Dean not-so-subtly. She presses one hand down into the table of their diner booth and leans down to face him with a smile. She is being so very obvious that Lizzy could smack her. She's eye fucking the shit out of her man right in front of her. Women like this give all chicks a bad name, Lizzy thinks to herself.

"I'll have eggs, scrambled, with bacon, sausage, and toast," Dean answers, looking up to her for the first time and instantly eliciting a smile from her. "And coffee."

"Not a problem," she winks and stands back up, taking her time before turning her full attention to Lizzy. "And for you?" Her voice is back to what Lizzy would assume is her normal, everyday, non-flirtatious tone.

"Veggie omelet and coffee," Lizzy answers her with a flat, bordering irritated, tone.

"My name's Vicki," the waitress informs them, though she says it mostly to Dean. "You need anything at all, just call out my name." She walks away, her fingertips grazing his shoulder as she does, and Lizzy stares daggers into the back of her head until she disappears into the kitchen.

"You alright there?" Dean smirks, knowing she's angry with the manner with which the waitress just carried herself. Jealousy was something they both dealt with through the always developing strength of their love for one another. He had it too, he'd never deny it, but seeing her get so green with envy was always fun for him.

"Stop loving this so much, huh?" Lizzy complains as she starts picking up on his giddiness and enjoyment. "She's fucking ridiculous."

"She's also like eighteen, nineteen tops," Dean points out. "Relax."

"Doesn't she see me sitting right here?" Lizzy asks, shocked that the assumption was never made that he was not just with her, but he was  _with_  her.

"Maybe she just doesn't care," Dean shrugs off as Vicki approaches their table again.

"Decaf or regular?" Vicki asks Dean first with a bright, pearly white smile as she holds a pot of coffee in each hand. Dean glances at Lizzy with a smirk before returning his focus to answer her.

"Fully charged, darlin'," Dean grins right back as he feels a boot kick hard into his shin. He doesn't flinch, having expected it, and winks when she's done pouring. "Thank you very much, Vick."

"Any time, sweetie," Vicki responds and Lizzy can feel the girl's attraction growing for him. Not good for Lizzy as the transfer of emotions is making her in turn more attracted to Dean. Vicki turns to Lizzy and her bright smile is reduced to about half wattage instantly. "And you?"

"Regular," Lizzy answers flatly, taking a deep breath and doing what she can. This chick is not helping her remain a good girl through her physical contact ban. Once her cup is poured, Vicki leaves with a parting eyebrow lift aimed at Dean.

"No decorum what so ever," Lizzy bitches with the pathetic display as she opens a creamer packet and dumps it unceremoniously into her cup. "She's fucking ready to jump your bones, dude."

"It happens… often," Dean jests cockily as he takes a sip from his mug and leans back in his seat, an arm casually draped across the back of the booth. "Aren't you used to girls falling all over me by now?"

"Keep it up," Lizzy warns only half seriously. "All I'm saying is she needs to fucking cool it because every time that horny little piece of sixteen year old ass comes over here, her emotions are being sucked right into me. I don't need the added pull to fuck you when I can't. Already killing me as it is."

"She's making you want me?" Dean asks with more glee than he should have.

"I want you anyways," Lizzy honestly tells him while sipping her coffee. "But she's making it so much worse. She's young and her hormones are going apeshit right now."

"Damn," Dean drawls out, the information captivating his attention. "This whole no touching thing is really putting a wrench in what I'd love to be doing right now with this new info."

"Tell me about it," Lizzy answers, knowing he himself is now beginning to think nasty thoughts because she is picking up on the added emotions from him now. "So let's talk about something not sexy in the least. Why do you think Sam booted us out?"

"Jesus, I'm too scared to even want to know," Dean complains as his posture slumps with the subject change. Luckily for Lizzy, her ploy worked and his turned on state is subsiding a little.

"You aren't even a little curious?" Lizzy pries, leaning forward a bit over the table. "You're not dying to know what he's up to?"

"Honestly, no," Dean answers truthfully. "I don't want to know anything about Sam and his bullshit anymore. I just don't have the energy to care at this point."

"That's sad," Lizzy returns, soaking in the disappoint Dean has in his little brother that hasn't subsided one bit.

"No shit it's sad," he says back. "L, I told you… I don't think I can do this, be around him. I can't trust him anymore."

"Because you haven't let him prove himself," Lizzy tries again to get to him. "He's still your brother. The same guy you spent your entire life with. He's sorry, I can promise you that. If anyone knows how remorseful he is right now, it's me. And he's guilty all day every day. It's exhausting to be him right now."

"Well he brought that on himself," Dean returns quickly, revealing his absolute lack of sympathy. "It's his fault that he's in this spot and that we now have to find a way to bring down the freakin' devil before the whole planet gets deep fired."

Lizzy inhales deeply as she watches him sip his coffee again. She's trying to grow the balls needed to say what she must to Dean. It's a hard truth to hear and she certainly doesn't want to hurt him, but she'll do it for Sam. She has to.

"Dean, please don't get pissed at me for saying this, but…" Lizzy looks into his eyes as she prefaces her statement in order to warn him for the blow she's about to deal. "It's not all Sam's fault that Lucifer is walking free. I think you forget that."

Dean puts his coffee down and peers at her with surprise. He says nothing, just looks at her as blankly as he can manage, but he's pissed.

"You think I'm a bitch for saying it, but that's ok," Lizzy explains to him as she can feel his anger. "You can think I'm over the line all you want but you need to remember that this was a joint effort."

Clenching his jaw tightly, he looks out the window to avoid her for a moment. She brings up a good point, a point he's somehow overlooked while being a so damn mad at Sam. Probably because he didn't want to face the truth. It hurt too damn much to.

"You know I'm right," Lizzy cautiously adds on. "You both had moments of weakness where you let others influence you into something awful. I don't get how you two aren't bonded together harder by this instead of pushed apart. Sam needs you. He always has and that's never going to change. You're hurting him so much over this."

"And he hurt me too," Dean rebuts with fire in his voice. "I didn't have Sam with me in the pit, L. He wasn't there telling me what to do and trying to help me along the way. He had that. I never stopped trying to get him to smarten up and he chose not to listen. He chose the wrong path. He chose a fucking demon…"

"Over you, yeah I know," Lizzy finishes for him, having heard this argument several times before. "He chose her over me too, dude. And I'm also still very hurt and very disappointed in that, but I won't push him away. I refuse to do that. That's the worst thing we could do right now. Just please, remember how much it sucked to find out that what you did had massive repercussions and keep in mind that Sam is the only one who can truly understand you when it comes to that."

"Here you go, honey," Vicki cheerfully says and gingerly places Dean' plate in front of him while interrupting a heavy conversation without knowing.

"Thank you," Dean says solemnly and without looking up at her.

"Everything ok?" she asks, getting an unhappy vibe from him.

"Yeah, just fine," Dean glances at her quickly.

Vicki nods sadly before putting Lizzy's plate in front of her. Getting an idea, Lizzy decides to lighten the mood for Dean. Plus, the gloomier he is, the gloomier she is. Shitty deal.

"You know, Vicki," Lizzy calls out to stop the server from walking away. She turns back with a smile which Lizzy returns and leans a hand on the back of Lizzy's side of the booth while looking at her. "I know you like him." Lizzy jerks her thumb to Dean. "You do, don't you?"

"Um…" Vicki starts to answer but can't as she was unprepared for such a question. Dean shoots Lizzy look that tells her he's shocked by her questioning.

"It's ok if you do. I'd get it," Lizzy returns while staring Dean down in a way that he loves more than anything. "He's fucking gorgeous."

"Can't disagree with you," Vicki says in a small, almost bashful voice.

"Unfortunately for you, he's all mine," Lizzy explains in an even yet heavy voice. She can see Dean eyeing her with odd curiosity. Instead of stop, Lizzy presses on as she drops her fingers lightly on top of Vicki's hand that is resting on the booth. "But that's not to say that I mind sharing."

"What?" Vicki blurts out with Lizzy's insinuation as her face falls completely.

"Oh, you know what I mean," Lizzy says, implications firmly in place. "What do you say?"

"I, uh…" Vicki stutters, completely uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. "I'm gonna leave you two to eat. Let me know if you need anything." She slips her hand out from under Lizzy's and walks away quickly, disappearing once more into the kitchen.

"You're evil," Dean smirks as he picks up his fork.

"Hey, if you're gonna dish it out you gotta be able to take it," Lizzy tells him, a fork full of omelet on its way to her mouth. "Plus, come one… no one hits on my man in front of me like that and gets away with it." She takes a bite and grins at him while chewing. Dean smiles back and shakes his head, already in a better head space than he was just a few minutes earlier.

"Yeah, I am cute, aren't I?" Lizzy says to him, having felt his adoration of her in the moment.

"You're something all right," Dean laughs to himself while digging into his food. "It's a shame this no touching rule exists. Otherwise, I'd be choking down this food so that I could drag you back to the motel by now." He looks down at his plate for just a split second before airing his wonder. "Why is it that the stupidest things are what get me going with you sometimes?"

"You're just weird," Lizzy jests, having felt him get turned on by her display.

"I hate this," Dean puts his fork down in sudden frustration. "Can't have sex with you, can't cop a feel, can't kiss you, hell I can't even go near you. This is total bullshit."

"You can't hack it for just a few days?" Lizzy huffs despite her own neediness.

"I normally can't hack it for an hour," Dean exaggerates as Vicki reappears at their table. She silently refills Dean's cup. "Thanks, Vick." He smiles, his non-verbal way of apologizing on Lizzy's behalf for her display just a few minutes earlier. Vicki looks him in the eye and Lizzy can feel the girl's attraction return in full force, which in turn becomes Lizzy's attraction in full force.

"God damn it," she complains once Vicki is gone again. She fans herself with her napkin as the people around her compound her own want for the man sitting across the table form her. "This is impossible."

"You're telling me," Dean bitches right back while going back to eating his very early morning breakfast.

"No," Lizzy says in a voice that's dropped and honey coated while her emotions tumble hard into too turned on to function suddenly. "You don't get it…"

"You ok?" Dean questions when he really looks at her. She's licking her lips as her cheeks are flushed.

"No!" she shouts in a whisper. "Between her wanting you and you wanting me and… my own usual status of needing to pounce on you... I'm dying here."

"Shit, you're not joking," Dean observes. "You really are heated right up over there."

Lizzy just nods and sits back in her seat, her mind turning quickly as she needs to find a way to make this better. This isn't going away, not without some assistance.

"Let's get outta here," Lizzy tells him before looking over to Vicki to wave her hand in the air, miming for the check.

"And do what?" Dean laughs with a mouthful of bacon. "We can't go near each other and I'm not exactly comfortable with fucking you while you're zoned out into my emotional state. That would make me a creepy asshole."

"I have a solution for that. Trust me," Lizzy explains quickly. She's creative enough to have found a possible means to an end she really needs right about now. "I never checked out of our room from last night so we can go there. Come on."

Lizzy pulls out a folded wad of cash and drops what she assumes will cover the meal plus tip. She doesn't have the patience right now to wait for the bill.

"You're serious right now," Dean more states than asks with another mouthful of food.

"As a fucking heart attack," Lizzy says while standing up. "Get your ass up, come on."

Lizzy walks swiftly to the front door, leaving her food behind, and Dean just watches with sheer amusement. Usually he's the needier of the two of them so he revels in the moment as she's off the charts hot and bothered over him and he did absolutely nothing to provoke it. He shovels one last forkful of eggs into his mouth, grabs a bacon strip and his coat, and follows her out the door.

* * *

Sam spreads the map out onto the round table top in the motel room. Running his palms over the thin paper, he tries his best to smooth out the wrinkles and creases.

He knew a way to find the gypsy. He'd seen someone, or better yet, something do this before in order to help him locate his brother. It wasn't that long ago and hopefully he remembers the words she used in order to make this work.

Ruby. As much as he'd never admit it aloud, and as much as he hates to admit it to himself, he missed her every now and then. She was damn helpful. In  _many_  ways, too. Whatever he needed, whether it be help saving someone, advice when he never asked for it, a good solid fuck when he had been on edge for too long, or even her blood, she gave it without question. Sure, he knows the reason she did it all was completely dishonest and deceitful in the worst way, but it had been just so damn good feeling like someone had cared about him that much. He hadn't felt that way since Lou died.

And now he was alone again. Dean looks at him with such disdain these days that he can feel the bile creep up his throat every damn time he does so. He still isn't sure where Bobby stands. He's not an emotional talker and he hasn't seen him in a while so it's a bit hard to tell.

Then there's Lizzy. He knows for a fact that she doesn't hate him and she isn't ever going to give up on him. She speaks her heart and wears it on her sleeve at all times. He will never have to wonder how she feels about him because she'll always be honest with him. For that very reason, however, he knows the disappointment and lack of trust she has concerning him.

So here he is, using one of his former demon sidekick's tricks of the evil trade while he kicked out the two people he worried most about. If they had seen him do this, use what he's learned from such dark sources, he's sure they'd disapprove and start looking at him under a microscope all over again.

Sam lights a candle left over from their poltergeist rituals and takes a deep breath as he tries to pull from his brain what it was Ruby used to recite.

"Ego dico super vis of obscurum," he starts with closed eyes and a concentrated expression. "Commodo mihi vestri ops reperio refero. Ostendo sum ut mihi locus of unus Ego peto."

He lights the bottom right corner of the paper map and it ignites immediately. He watches as the flames take over the map, singeing the thin paper and rapidly turning it to blackened ash.

"Out," Sam demands loudly and the fire extinguishes itself in an instant. What is left is only the part of the map that reveals where the gypsy is.

"Sorry, I know we're kicked out…" Lizzy starts to excuse as she opens the door without warning. She pauses when she looks at Sam as he stands over the table, candle in one hand and a pile of ash coating the furniture's surface. "Whoa."

"It's… I was…" Sam starts to explain but she hold up a hand to stop him.

"Did you drink blood?" she asks so quickly Sam needed a second to process exactly what it was she said. She had business to tend to so she hopes for a no as an answer.

"Jesus, no!" Sam responds, hoping she believed him.

"Never saw a thing then," she says to him, not wanting to know what he's up to anyways. She walks across the room in a rush to her duffel. "Just grabbing my bag and I'm out until you're ready for us."

"I know where the gypsy is." He blurts it quickly.

Lizzy pauses once more and looks to him with wide eyes. "That was quick."

"I have some tricks up my sleeve," Sam remarks while blowing out the candle.

"Nice," Lizzy nods. "Uh, you still need time?" She prays silently that he does. She's a horny mess right now and needs to manage things before she can focus on anything else.

"Um, a little bit," Sam says to her chagrin. "I need the internet connection for a little before we go."

"Good!" She picks up her bag and heads for the door immediately.

"What's going on with you?" Sam wonders as he observes her odd behavior.

"You don't want to know," Lizzy shakes her head. "We'll be back soon, promise."

She closes the door swiftly behind her and Sam moves to the big picture window. He pulls aside the curtain and watches as Lizzy runs across the lot to the room she and Dean shared the night before.

"Shit, I hope they're not gonna be stupid," he whispers to himself as he starts to understand what's going on.

* * *

"You're not gonna do anything stupid are you?" Dean cautiously asks Lizzy as she rushes through the door. She tosses her bag onto the bed and unzips it, immediately searching through its contents.

"Actually, considering the circumstances, I'm gonna be incredibly smart," she explains as she takes out the pair of handcuffs they've used plenty of times in the past and the item she lovingly refers to as her other best friend – her vibrator.

Dean's eyebrow fly practically to his hairline when he sees the items. "What the hell are you cooking up?" he eagerly asks, already more than curious as to what she has planned.

"I'm giving you an option," Lizzy starts in a rushed tone. "You can stay or you can go but my emotions aren't giving me any kind of choice. I need to get off so I'm gonna get on this bed and do what I gotta do."

Speechless, Dean just stares at her with wide eyes. He watches her grow impatient with his lack of answer but he just couldn't come up with one. His voice disappears for a moment.

"Well? Staying or leaving?" she practically shouts at him while undoing the button of her pants and toeing out of her boots. Her need is just getting worse the longer Dean stands there and gets more and more turned on by her intended way of doing things.

"Yeah, I'm not leaving for that show," Dean tells her with certainty as his eyes remain bugged out of his head and glued to her tight jeans as they get pushed down her legs.

"Good," Lizzy tells him, happy that he's staying. She kind of likes that, honestly. He's the one who got her to this worked up state as is and she's yet to do something like this with him. Could be fun, she thinks to herself as she kicks out of her pants. "Go sit." She points to the barebones chair in the corner of the room.

In a daze of anticipation, Dean walks to the armchair and sits in it just as she asked him. He watches her hop onto the bed once her pants are off and she sits up against the headboard facing him.

"Cuffs?" Dean questions her, nodding to the metal item sitting next to her on the comforter alongside her sex toy.

"Just in case I can't stay put," Lizzy honestly explains without a hint of embarrassment.

"You mean just in case you think you will launch yourself at me you're gonna cuff yourself in place?" Dean asks her with a grin of flattery.

"Pretty much," Lizzy says in a businesslike manner as she whips her shirt over her head and throws it at him. "Now… tell me what you want to see."

There's a heavy pause in the air with her request. This was unexpected from her, as shocking as that sounds. She's bold and very uninhibited, but this is different. Lizzy has to put aside any sense of reserve, every bit of discretion, and completely lower her guard to do this. Without knowing it, she's showing just how much she trusts him, how much she loves him, and exactly how vulnerable and out in the open she is willing to be in front of him. He knows she's frenzied right now and not thinking this way but he recognizes it completely. She's found a way to give herself over to him wholly without her even going near him.

"Ok, is that second thoughts I'm getting from you or what?" Lizzy complains a she cuts into his silence. "I'm not offended if this is weird and you want to leave."

"No!" Dean immediately explains to her. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!"

"Then what's with the reservations?" she asks him, her hand absentmindedly making its way across the fabric of her underwear with her need as she speaks to him. She rubs over herself while moving her hips into her hand.

"It's not hesitation," Dean quickly explains, eyes glued to what she's doing. "Just a moment of awareness."

"Awareness of what?" Lizzy questions, licking her lips and closing her eyes as she her movements begin to have an excellent effect on her.

"Of how much you mean to me," Dean explains and nearly blows her away with his honesty. She pops her eyes open and stares at him. She can feel his love for her now. Picking up on everything he holds for her in his heart in the passing moment, she feels him seeing her as his best friend, the love of his life, his reason to keep pressing on, his everything.

"Please don't make me cry before I rub one out in front of you," Lizzy smiles with a mixture of lighthearted humor and utter adoration.

"Sorry," Dean smirks as he shakes his head. "Not what I was going for."

"I'm gonna ask again and you're gonna answer this time or else I'm doing my own thing," she says in a lust coated voice while her emotions roll once more as she looks him over, sitting in the chair facing her. Damn, he made a ratty old Henley and a ripped up, dirt stained pair of jeans look like heaven. His forearms are resting on the chair's old wooden arms and his hands are clenching the ends, knuckles turning white with his hold. Maybe she would need those cuffs like she feared after all. "Baby, what do you want to see?"

"Fuck, L…" Dean stares in awe at her. "Everything."

* * *

 


	15. The Song Remains the Same

* * *

Sitting at his laptop as patiently as he can, Sam kills time by continually searching the internet for ways to break gypsy curses. It's all he can do at this point. He already packed up everything in the room for himself as well as both Dean and Lizzy. Now that he knows where the old woman is, he's ready to get on the road but whatever they're up to… and no, he really doesn't want to know what it is… is really putting a damper on moving things along.

Hearing the room door open, Sam doesn't bother looking up.

"About damn time," Sam complains while shutting down his computer. "Let's head out."

"Head out where?" Lizzy asks eagerly with a grin. She feels about a million times better now that she got that out of her system.

"Louisiana," Sam tells her. "I found the town the gypsy is in and it's pretty far. We need to get going."

"How did you pull that out your ass?" Dean questions Sam with skepticism.

"I'm just damn good," Sam grins as he slides his now closed computer into its leather bag. "I packed everything already so we could head out when you guys were done… ah… with… whatever."

"Great," Lizzy says to him while grabbing the duffels off the floor by the door. "I'll pack the car." She holds her hand out to Dean and he pulls the Impala keys out of his jeans pocket, careful to drop them into her waiting palm without touching her hand. She smiles lovingly up to him before leaving.

"She doing ok?" Sam questions as he slings his leather bag over his shoulder.

"She is now," Dean smirks. Sam just stares back with disbelieving eyes.

"Dude, you didn't…" Sam worries to his brother, hoping they refrained from being the animals he thinks, no,  _he knows_  they are.

"No. We didn't," Dean answers quickly. "Didn't have to. She's a one creative little minx I tell ya'."

"I shouldn't have asked," Sam grumps while tossing Dean their weapons bag.

"Put on a fucking show of a lifetime, dude," Dean spills knowing full well his prudish brother wouldn't want to hear it. He just couldn't help it. It was too awesome not to share and if he can't tell this shit to Sam, who could he tell? "And I'm gonna campaign Congress to get vibrators government issued to all the women of America. They're fucking amazing."

This time, instead of do the usual disgusted reaction thing, Sam just huffs a laugh with a smile he couldn't hold back once he really thought about it.

"Ok, that  _is_  pretty brilliant," Sam smiles while he recognizes Lizzy's ingenuity. And holy shit, what a mental image.

"Fucking genius," Dean adds with satisfaction on his face. " _That_  was a good time."

"Glad you two are in such good sorts," Sam huffs out as they walk out to the car. "Because now, we drive."

"How far?" Lizzy questions as she bends down to grab the last duffel to put in the trunk. It was only for a quick second that she was bent over at the waist, but the view was enough for Sam. Damn, Dean was right. She did have a fucking great ass.

"Hey," Lizzy snaps three times after waiting for his answer. "How far?"

"Sorry," Sam apologizes, looking away as drops his laptop into the back of the car. "About fifteen hundred miles. We've got a full day of driving ahead of us."

"Fuck," Lizzy dissents. "Why the hell does evil crap insist on always being so far away from where we are?"

"Because it's evil," Sam quickly answers her with a wide grin. "And we kill it usually."

"Alright wiseass," Lizzy reaches to hit him on the arm jokingly, but he dodges just in time to miss it. "Who wants first shift?"

"I'll take it," Dean offers and right after his keys are sailing in the air towards him. "You guys try to sleep. Especially you. You look wrecked."

"It's true," Lizzy surprisingly cops to it. She usually lies like a Winchester over such things, not wanting to be the weak link of the three of them. But after this day, her calf torn to shit, her arm sliced up, and her overworked emotions draining her all the while, she needs sleep. It's been over twenty-four hours since she laid down at all and the sun is already lighting up the sky for a new day. "Can we make a stop first?"

"Where?" Dean wonders as rests his elbows on the roof of his car and looks at her across from him.

"Nathan's," she says. "I want to make sure they had a good, paranormal free night before we leave."

"I'm sure the ritual worked," Sam reassures. "They would have called by now if it didn't."

"It took Nathan two months to confess to his parent that shit was happening before they saw any of it," Lizzy points out. "I don't trust that he'll speak up on his own if their first night back home was bad for him."

"It's early though," Dean points out, checking his watch. "We can't just go wake them up to check on them. They have lives, and schedules."

"I'll call right now," Lizzy says while pulling out her phone. "And they're definitely up. They have a kid that has to get to school."

"Sounds good then," Dean hesitantly relents. He knows when a battle isn't worth picking. Her mind won't be at ease until she knows that kid is safe. "Let's go."

"Thanks sweetheart," Lizzy smiles in jest to him as she presses send to make her call.

"Anything for you dear," Dean winks to her and sits himself behind the wheel.

* * *

Nathan's mother very happily welcomed the three hunters into her home even at such an early hour. She offered them coffee and as they drank around the kitchen table, the shattered glass now cleared from the rooms, she explained to them that the night was quiet and disturbance free.

"And how did Nathan do last night?" Lizzy questions, needing to know the child was on the road to normal again.

"Slept like a baby," she smiled to them. "He hasn't done that in months. It was…" She looks away for a quick second as her emotions grip her before returning her gaze to the hunters, the threatening tears obvious in her eyes. "I could never, ever thank you enough for what you've done for my son."

"He didn't deserve what he went through in the first place," Dean tells her. As much as Lizzy bonded with the little guy, Dean found himself adoring Nathan also and wishing the boy never had to experience any of what he did. "We were happy to help out." He takes a sip of coffee and makes himself stop talking. He was bordering on speaking his emotions. What the fuck has Lizzy done to him? He's getting a little too in touch with his feelings through his relationship with her.

"But you could have been seriously hurt," Nathan's grateful mother continues, a single tear making its way down her cheek as she turns to Lizzy. "You  _did_  get hurt."

"And I'd do it again," Lizzy tell her with a painful yet sympathetic smile on. "You're son is a wonderful little kid. He's sweet and thoughtful, even at such a young age. I'm more than happy to have helped him out, even if I got hurt. I hope you're super proud of him. I'd be over the freakin' moon if he were mine."

"Yeah, he's a great kid. Dan and I got lucky," she smiles in return while wiping her eyes quickly. Nathan, being carried on his father's hip, can be heard talking as they make their way down the stairs in the hallway. "Dan! Come here for a second!"

The moment they walk into the kitchen and see the three hunters at the table, Nathan's eyes light up excitedly.

"Lizzy!" he shouts happily as he squirms out of his dad's hold. Dan, forced to put his overly thrilled son down, laughs as he watches Nathan jump into Lizzy's lap where she sits at the table.

"Nathan!" Lizzy shouts in echo right back at him with her wide, toothy smile as she helps him up and gives him a big hug. "How'd it go last night, dude?"

"It's gone!" Nathan smiles as he pulls back and looks at her. "It left, just like you guys said it did."

"Nothing bothered you at all last night?" Sam further questions. "No weird sounds or anything?"

"Nope," Nathan answers quickly as he turns around to face the table and settles in, never once looking to get down from his spot sitting with Lizzy.

"Cheerios or Charms?" Dan calls over to the table, looking for Nathan's breakfast choice.

"Lucky Charms!" Nathan answers emphatically.

"Should have known, right?" Dan remarks mostly to himself as he pours a bowl of sugary cereal for his son. "Anyone want anything? Linda?"

"No thanks, hon," Nathan's mother answers.

"We're good, thanks," Dean answers, knowing they have to head out on the road soon. "So we want you guys to keep our numbers, especially the one for that guy Bobby we told you about. He'll always be able to reach us if you can't otherwise."

"You think we'll… uh… need to call you to come back?" Dan wonders as he puts the bowl of cereal and a spoon in front of Nathan. He doesn't outright ask if the poltergeist could come back because he doesn't want to alarm his son nor put that thought in his head.

"Hopefully, no," Sam tells him. "It's just insurance for the very slight chance that… you know…"

"Right," Nathan's mother answers, showing she understands. She watches Lizzy talking to Nathan while he eats his breakfast, relating so well to him and generally putting her son at ease much like she did the night before. "You're very good with him."

Lizzy looks up at her with a smile. "To who? This little dork?"

"Hey!" Nathan shouts with fake annoyance.

"Hey!" she echoes right back with a funny face, making the kid laugh.

"You are though," Linda laughs with the display. "You're very good with kids, I can tell."

"They're easy to get," Lizzy plainly explains. "And you two have done a heck of a job raising this guy. He's just plain easy to get along with."

"Yeah, well, it's harder than it looks but I get the feeling that someday you'd do just fine with a few of your own," Linda smiles into her coffee mug, not being aware of the heavy nature of her words. The meaning behind what she says does not however get lost on Lizzy as she attempts to swallow away the lump in her throat and hide the sudden sadness as it washes over the expression.

"Don't know about that," Lizzy painfully tries to push aside Linda's comment.

"The wife's right," Dan adds in lightly while fixing his tie. "You have mom written all over you. Uh, in a good way."

"I'll be sure to pick up some tapered, high-waisted jeans on my way home then," Lizzy jokes without her usual brightness. The comment comes out flat and Dean can see her mood shift completely with the compliments she's given.

"Lizzy already does a better than great job of taking care of us. And the two of us aren't easy at all," Sam huffs, having seen the change in her also. "She's already a mom."

Lizzy gives a lopsided grin to the room that never reaches her eyes as Nathan holds up a rainbow marshmallow. She laughs quietly and opens her mouth, Nathan tossing it in for her.

"Thanks," Lizzy says to the child for sharing with her.

"The rainbows taste the best," Nathan explains and his kindness puts her over the top. This is way too emotional for her to deal with right now.

"Uh," Lizzy shakily starts as she moves to stand up. "We should get going, let you guys start your day." She drops Nathan back into his chair so he can finish his breakfast and Dean and Sam stand up with her.

"Thank you so much for checking up on us this morning," Linda tenderly says. "You've done so much for us already that this was unnecessary."

"But really appreciated," Dan adds in quickly.

"Lizzy couldn't leave town until she knew Nathan was safe," Dean tells them in all honesty as he watches her kneel down to him.

"We gotta go," Lizzy explains to the young boy who has a mouthful of cereal while she crouches down to his level. "But I need you to pinky swear me that if anything starts bothering you again like before, you'll tell mom and dad right away. No waiting." She sticks her pinky out on her right hand and holds it up to him. "Promise?"

"Yup," Nathan says through the breakfast in his mouth and locks fingers with her. Then, unexpectedly, Nathan jumps off his seat and give her a big parting hug. Lizzy wraps her arms around him, returning the sweet embrace while her heart shatters. When she stands back up, Dean can immediately see the pending breakdown and he hustles to get her out of the house before that happens.

"Call if anything shows up again," Dean reiterates to Nathan's parents as he drops a hand on Lizzy's shoulder.

"We will," Dan promises.

The family walks the hunters out all together and wave from the front door as they drive off. Lizzy waves back from the passenger seat and only look away once they were down the road and the house is no longer visible. Her head dropped and shoulders hunched, she takes a moment of complete silence, other than the live version of 'Given to Fly' and the engine running, to sit with the sad realization.

"That's never gonna be us, is it?" Lizzy asks in a quiet and broken voice as she stares at her hands in her lap.

Dean looks over to her for a quick second, seeing the tears drop into her lap and soak into the fabric of her jeans. He wishes he knew what to say to that, but he doesn't.

"There's no out," Lizzy depressively says. "We're never gonna get out. We're never gonna be happy."

"You don't know that," Dean denies the truth he's already well aware of. He's always admired her ability to be hopeful for the future, something he hasn't been able to do for years now. Dean's come to terms as much as he can with the idea that he'll never shake the life, but Lizzy hasn't. She just wants it too much to let herself give up… until now.

"I think we both do," Lizzy looks up to him with sorrow written deep in her eyes. "We're gonna fight and dodge shit for as long as we can until someday something's gonna get us and then that's it. That's all there is."

"You can't think that way," Sam tells her as he leans forward onto the bench seat, a hand on her shoulder.

"Why not?" Lizzy challenges through a sob as she turns to him. "You tell me there's a chance, even the slightest of ones, that we can leave this shit life behind us and live normal at some point."

Sam just scrunches his face with the pain of her words and doesn't answer.

"See what I mean," Lizzy says as fresh tears fall and glisten on her cheeks. "I think I just somehow need to find a way to accept that I will never be Linda. I won't have that life with a husband that I know will come home at night to our house, to our kids. I know that for sure now." She wipes at her face to clear her eyes but she can't stop crying. This one hurt too deeply. "I just wish I didn't want that so fucking much."

She covers her face with her hands as her sobs truly take over. It was awful, coming to that conclusion for the first time. Lizzy knew the truth in the back of her mind for a while now, she just never came to any kind of terms with it. Now, after seeing that family so happy and hearing Linda say that she's be so good in that position in life, it's abundantly clear. That is never going to happen. Not for her and Dean. It can't.

"Sammy," Dean very quietly looks for Sam's attention. "Gloves."

Sam digs into the duffel at his feet and pulls out the second set of leather gloves they bought for he and Dean. He drops them into his brother's waiting hand and Dean quickly puts them on. He then reaches across the front seat to take her hand.

Grateful for the contact, making her feel that she isn't alone on this, Lizzy clamps her hand to his and clutches hysterically to him.

"We've known, deep down, that we're not getting out for a long time now," Dean tries to tell her the truth. "We both have."

Lizzy simply nods her head, knowing the thought had always been buried in there somewhere.

"L, I want you to have that life, I do," Dean tells her. "And I'm sorry you can't. I'd give anything to change that. I want more than anything to give you exactly the life you deserve. You know I do."

"How do you live?" Lizzy cries over to him with desperation to understand.

"What do you mean?" Dean asks, not understanding her.

"How do you get up in the morning?" Lizzy further says. "How, knowing that you'll never live differently than this and that every day you're going to see pain and absolute crap with no light at the end of the tunnel? How do you live with that?"

Dean looks to her, recognizing the torment on in her expression as she waits for an answer. She shakes her head once she realizes he isn't going to have one.

Lizzy gives up trying and gives in to the truth. This is life. This is it. She'll fight by Dean's side until the day she dies… or he does… and then that's it. That's all they have and that's all they'll ever have.

Laying across the front seat, she drops her head onto Dean's thigh and cries. With all the tears she's shed in front of the two of them at this point, what's one more time to add to the count. Maybe this will be good for her in the long run, this acceptance. At least she won't be continually holding out for something impossible, getting her hopes up every single day of her life like she had a bright future.

Dean cards his gloved fingers through her hair as he drives. Words aren't helpful right now, neither are actions or shared looks or anything else. He looks into the rearview to see Sam staring out the side window dejectedly. He hears 'Hard to Imagine' begin playing and realizes even putting on one of her favorite bands is completely fruitless this time around. Not even her man Eddie Vedder can help her this time.

* * *

 


	16. Dreaming Man (and Woman)

* * *

Dean took the first leg of the trip without complaint. Now that Lizzy's found sleep, her head still in his lap, his spirits are lifted. He really just wanted her to get some rest. Sleep was one of the hunters' only quiet and safe retreats that they had left… barring any nightmares caused by the occupation of course. She looked like she'd been exhausted by this whole ordeal, the constant barrage of feeling others' emotions taking quite the toll on her, and it's all been compounded by her breakdown after leaving Nathan's house. Though she'd never admit it, Lizzy was looking worn.

Once more Dean is left feeling like something is all his fault. Lizzy should never have gone back to see that gypsy and he should have known better than to let her. From the second he stepped through the front door he knew something was very wrong. He should have listened to his gut. Now Lizzy's been fucked with and he couldn't do anything about it… yet. It's a helpless feeling and he hates helplessness.

God damn, Dean thinks to himself as he looks around the Impala, eyes roaming first to his passed out brother in the back and then down to Lizzy's sleeping form next to him. Seeing the plain, trouble-free expression on her face makes him smile to himself for just a split second. She looked so content and simply not unhappy. He'll easily take the moment for exactly what it is… not too bad in the midst of a really fucked up day. She was a falling apart when she slipped into slumber but now she at least looked calm and serene.

As the car makes its way through Nebraska on I-80, Dean flies. He's pissed at what this gypsy has done to his girl and the sooner he can get them to Louisiana, the better. He's ready to do whatever it takes to help Lizzy, as always. This gypsy must have wanted to die.

* * *

"Hey," the whispered voice calls out to him and stirs Sam from his sleep. A sweet smile spreads across his lips before he rolls onto his back to look at her. While Lou straddles his hips and grins down at him, he finds himself fine with the sudden unexplainable scenery change.

"Hi Lou," Sam smiles. She has her puffy winter coat on and her hair is half hidden under a knit hat. He also has on winter outerwear and he can hear Christmas songs playing softly in the background of the Impala. He remembers this. It's one of his favorite memories of not just her but of his life and it's replaying itself in front of him. This was about a year after they first met and he and Lou had kept in constant contact with each other. By this time he considered her his good friend, if not his best, and they'd met up a day or two after Christmas to catch up and just plain be in each other's presence.

"I can't believe you guys happened to be so close to where we were," Lou says, an honest look in her eye as she lies down on top of him and snuggles into his much longer frame. Sam circles his arms around her and hugs her in, feeling warmer already.

"Caught a break this time," Sam remarks, remembering saying that very clearly to her that night.

"Hey, I'll definitely take it," Lou remarks as she presses her cheek into Sam's coat just under his chin. "Haven't actually seen you in way too long."

"I know," Sam concurs wholeheartedly. "I don't like it."

"Neither do I!" Lou agrees. "If your brother wasn't being such an incredible ass maybe we would have seen each other sooner."

"Yeah," Sam sadly says. "Well, he's Dean. And I know he has a good reason for cutting Lizzy out like he has." This whole scenario happened in the middle of Dean's year before hell. At this point his brother had dropped Lizzy completely and without giving a reason, making seeing Lou next to impossible.

"What could possibly be happening that he'd have to break it off without explanation?" Lou asks with sheer curiosity. "Lizzy is still a fucking mess over what he's done to her."

"Shit," Sam laments heavily. He always liked Lizzy a lot, even back then when he didn't know her nearly as well. He had hoped that she would have started getting over Dean and moving on by then, six months after Dean last talked to her, but she hadn't. He also somewhat assumed that she wouldn't have since Dean was still clearly hurting with her absence also. "I'm sorry he's not explaining himself."

"Then you explain it," Lou lifts her head and looks up to him with hopeful eyes. "You know why he did it so tell me."

"I can't," Sam tells her. "It's not my place. He did this for a reason, though. A good one." Yeah, selling your soul to hell would be a good reason in his eyes, just like it was in Dean's.

"You're a good brother," Lou tells him angrily while dropping her head down onto him again. "Which sucks."

Sam smiles with her backhanded compliment. Running a hand through her hair he tries to explain as best he can. "Dean's done some really selfless things that have put him on a pretty set path in life. Just trust me when I say that he's not trying to hurt Lizzy. In the long run, he's trying to do what's best for her by cutting her out."

"Great," Lou sarcastically remarks. "Well, since you're being a little bitch and you won't spill it, then next time Lizzy gets insanely hammered and irrationally angry and sad… and then tries to pick a fight with someone at a bar… I'll give you a call to come deal with it."

"I'm sorry, for both of you," Sam says, feeling remorseful for not telling her everything. He never did betray his brother's trust in him until Lou was turned and he'd become an absolute pile of misery by it. It was only then that he told Lizzy the truth she deserved to know. He told her about Dean's deal when he was at his weakest.

"I know you are," Lou says as she once more pops her head up to look at Sam in the eye. She drops a loving hand on his cheek. "That's kinda why I like ya'. You genuinely care."

"I thought it was my charming wit and good looks," Sam grins to her.

"Those too," she answers and places a sweet, innocent (for once!) kiss on his lips.

*****************************

Busting through the hotel room door, Lizzy giggles happily as Dean carries her in his arms into the room. Both smile at each other giddily while he kicks the door closed behind them, shutting them out from the rest of the world and hopefully holing them up alone in the suite for as long a time as they can manage.

"How's that for traditional?" Dean smirks to her before capturing her lips with his own.

"Mm, very traditional of you," Lizzy answers back while Dean walks her to the giant, king-sized bed in the middle of the perfect suit. She pulls on one end of his already undone bowtie, sliding it out from the collar of his tuxedo shirt and tosses it over her shoulder haphazardly. "Who knew we did traditional so fucking well, huh?"

"Definitely not me," Dean jokes, scooting his knees onto the mattress before laying her down on it, the skirt of her long, poufy, bright white dress taking up most of the space on the bed.

"God, that was a perfect day," Lizzy happily comments as he eyes her over while lying alongside her. He once more takes in the sight of her in the long gown, molded wonderfully to her form, and smiles even more.

"Yes it was," Dean agrees. "And not just the day was perfect. You were perfect. You've never looked more beautiful than you do in that dress."

"Yeah, it's not bad is it?" Lizzy answers, looking down at herself in the multilayered dress.

"Not bad at all," he answers with all honesty. "You're gorgeous."

"Why thank you, Mr. Winchester," Lizzy answers while linking her hand in his.

"You very welcome, Mrs. Winchester," Dean grins back, not yet having had the chance to call her that.

"My God! That sounds amazing, doesn't it!" she returns while beaming, her love for him stronger than ever.

"Yeah it does," Dean agrees, pulling her into him and kissing her.

"And right back 'atcha, by the way," Lizzy grins with pride once they separate. "You clean up quite nicely too. Never seen you in a tux before. I could get used to this."

"Please don't," Dean huffs with a genuine, cheek-breaking smile. "This penguin suit's been killing me all day."

"Aw, poor baby. You wanna take it off?" Lizzy coos, leaning closer into him and bringing her face just an inch from his.

"I would love to," Dean answers while lifting his eyebrows just slightly.

"Sure thing," she returns with a deep, love-filled kiss.

*****************************

It feels like a bad 80's teen movie is playing out in the back of the Impala. Sam, a man by all accounts who is far from being that high school kid looking for a make-out buddy, has become just that. He and Lou talked a little more, catching up on hunts and the larger events in their lives, and soon found themselves kissing for what felt like an hour. It was fun, just plain honest fun and since Sam tended to be the more studious, shy, keep to himself type as a young adult, he feels like he's making up for a lot of lost time. Lou didn't seem to mind as she appeared to be also enjoying herself very much.

"When do you have to head out?" Lou asks with her lips still pressed to his as she's lying on top of him.

"By five," Sam answers between kisses, his hands running along either side of his neck. "In case Dean's up by seven."

"Doesn't he sleep late?" Lou questions, looking for more time anywhere she can find it.

"Nah, not lately," Sam tells her, his tongue running across her bottom lip. Dean hadn't been doing a lot of solid sleeping since making his deal. Leaving was risky enough as it was with his brother's odd sleep patterns but the opportunity to see the girl that has been his crutch for so long now was worth that risk.

"That sucks," Lou complains. "I coulda stayed longer. Lizzy's a late riser."

They were both keeping their meeting a secret. The sadness Lizzy would go through if she knew Sam would be willing to meet up with Lou but Dean couldn't even answer his phone when she called would devastate her. As for Dean, he just never wanted to ever speak of Lizzy at all. When he shut her out, he did it completely and for him it was much easier to ignore her existence than ever talk about her again. It was too painful to.

"Sorry to disappoint," Sam says while languidly dragging his lips against hers. Lou suddenly sits up and pulls on Sam's coat front, bringing him with her. Lou smiles slyly, staring at him with her bright blue eyes, as she pulls the zipper of his coat downward, opening it up. Keeping eye contact, she runs her hands along his shoulders and pushes the jacket off. Sam pulls his arms through his sleeves and frees himself up to do the same to Lou.

"We're on a time crunch now," Lou comments as her coat is removed for her. "Should probably get down to brass tacks."

"Well, if you say so," Sam jokingly says in a faux annoyed manner.

"Oh please," Lou says to him with a face of disbelief as she starts unbuttoning the plaid shirt she and Lizzy gave him so long ago. "Did you really think that I was gonna meet up and  _not_  make a move on you?"

"No," Sam laughs quietly as she peels off his flannel.

"Good," Lou grins as she pulls her sweatshirt over her head, her knit cap coming with it. "Because you are not leaving here until I get what I want from you."

"Is that a threat?" Sam asks as Lou reaches for the bottom of his t-shirt.

"Absolutely!" Lou smiles ear to ear as she pulls his shirt off for him.

*****************************

Down to just his opened tuxedo shirt, his white tank underneath, and his boxer briefs, Dean hovers over his bride still in her dress.

"It'll be a shame getting you outta this thing," Dean tells her, not ready to see the dress be taken off for good.

"A shame to you!" Lizzy laughs. "To me it'll be like getting freed from prison! I haven't taken a single full breath since I put this on!"

He smiles down to her before kissing her deeply again. "Then let me help you with that."

"Please," Lizzy says exaggeratedly as Dean sits to her side and gently helps her roll onto her stomach, exposing the back of the dress to him. His eyes go wide when he see it.

"How the hell am I going to do this?" he asks with the sight of the long row of buttons running far down the back of her strapless dress.

"Patiently," Lizzy jokes as she props her head on her folded forearms and looks over to him. "It's not as bad as it looks. Just undo each button first."

"First?" Dean asks, dejected. "There's more I have to do after that!?"

"Buttons first," Lizzy calmly explains. "Then we'll go from there."

"Alright," Dean relents and drops a kiss on her exposed shoulder. He starts at the top, fingers moving as quickly as he can make them go while still being effective. Lizzy waits patiently, her smile still on her lips as out of her periphery she watches his studious face.

"Not so bad, right?" Lizzy tries to lighten the task at hand.

"Shh," Dean shushes her. "I'm concentrating."

Lizzy laughs and relaxes, her body already tired from the long day they had. She looks around the room, seeing how completely not them the room is. It's beautiful and nothing like their usual motel fodder. It's pristine, immaculately clean. It's the kind of place that she figured she never get to see the inside once she dove into hunting. Her eyes then fall on the bowl on the nightstand next to the bed, filled with water and a goldfish swimming around in it.

"That's weird…" Lizzy comments about the very out of place item.

"Ha!" Dean cheers loudly.

"Done?" she asks as her focus on the fish is now put elsewhere.

"I showed those buttons who's boss," he answers back.

"Well then, boss, time to unzip me so that I can finally breathe!" Lizzy instructs. "Just undo the little metal hook at the top first."

"Uh-huh," Dean says while already doing as she asked. Hook opened, he slowly pulls down the zipper, leaving a trail with his tongue as he goes. Lizzy hums her approval before she takes in a large, deep breath.

"Ahh…" Lizzy relieves with the freedom she feels as she melts into the mattress for a quick second. Once she takes a few deep inhales, reveling in the ability to do so, she realizes she has to get up to actually take the massive dress she's wearing off. "Help me up?"

Smiling and excited, Dean takes her hand and helps hoist her off the bed until she's on her feet. Dropping the white dress to the floor, it gathers in a heap around her feet and gives her new husband an eyeful.

"Whoa," Dean sighs quietly and with awe while looking her over. The stark white, lacy lingerie she has on steals his breath for a second. The strapless bra sculpting her perfectly, the small white thong accentuating her curves, the white garter belt holding up her lacy knee-high stocking and, to top it all off, the garter still wrapped around her thigh makes him weak in the knees. Once he's over the initial wonderful surprise before him, Dean drops to his knees in front of her and brings his arms around her waist in utter praise. "This is mine now?"

"Always has been," Lizzy corrects him with a grin. "But legally, yeah. It's all yours, baby."

"That's so awesome," he says, kissing her stomach while his hands run up and down over her back and sides. "Oh my God, you are so beautiful."

"Alright, take it easy," Lizzy smirks, her hands running through his hair. "I'm gonna get a big head."

"Looking like this, you should," he explains while letting his hands explore her, running over the pure white lace and her smooth skin.

"Jesus, get up here would you?" Lizzy smiles down to him and instantly Dean is on his feet. He wastes no time and kisses her. The two share the moment and are actually , truly, and completely happy for once. They were together, really together and for forever. She is officially part of his family now, the name being legitimately hers. There's just something about knowing that that makes this night that much better.

Dean grabs her hips and moves her to the bed, crawling over her until she's scooted up to the top. He leans over her as he settles in between her legs. Lowering himself down onto her, her hands cupping his face, he kisses her again.

*****************************

Sam has a firm grasp on Lou’s bare ass as she reaches over the front bench seat and into the glove box up front.  Bent at the waist, her backside is on full display for him and his hands couldn’t help themselves.

“Condoms in the glove box?” Lou questions Sam over her shoulder as she tears one off of the strip she finds there.  “You get down in the car regularly, Sammy Boy?”

“I don’t, no,” Sam answers before realizing the meaning behind what he says.  Because if those condoms weren’t his, then that means…

“So Dean’s back to being the busy manwhore he used to be then,” she comments when she puts together the information.  “My God, my best friend is an idiot.” 

“No she isn’t,” Sam defends as Lou moves to straddle his hips again.  “She just doesn’t understand…”

“And she never will, right?” Lou asks with one eyebrow cocked.

“Ok, talking about how shitty my brother is while you’re naked and ready to fuck me isn’t doing me any favors here,” Sam tells her.  “I’m on vacation for like five hours.  You’re killing me.”

“Aw,” Lou coos while leaning down to kiss him again.  “I’m sorry.  It’s not your fault you’re related to a major asshole.  I’ll stop now.”

“Thank you,” Sam exasperatedly says, bringing his hands to the back of her head and pulling her into another serious kiss with the hopes of getting her to stop talking like that.  He can’t take much more Dean bashing when Lou just doesn’t understand the whole story.

The sound of the wrapper tearing open pulls Sam happily into everything wonderful about the present.  He watches as Lou sits up and rolls the condom onto him, all the while biting her lip in sheer excitement like she always did in times like these.  When done, she leans back down with a grin and presses her lips to his again.  Sam reaches between them and eases very slowly into her. 

“Fuck yes,” Lou cheers into his ear.  “God, I missed that big dick of yours, Sam.”  She sits up again, closing her eyes, and just simply relishes the feeling of him inside her. 

Sam runs his hands over her sides, her breasts, her ass, her thighs, everywhere as he watches her sheer enjoyment of the moment.  Fuck, he missed her while they were separated for the better part of a year.  He knows now that ever denying her sexually in the past was a huge mistake.  They had such a solid connection that when he got to be with her, like this, it was perfect. 

Smiling down to him through her golden hair, Lou quickly leans forward once more, her lips locked on his as she moves her hips expertly.  Sam moans deep in his throat with the sensation she creates immediately and he cups her face in his hands.  His tongue exploring hers, he can feel her mouth turn up in a smile suddenly as she whispers against his lips.

“Feels so good, Sam-I-Am.”

What the fuck!?  That voice!  Pushing her away instantly, Sam looks up into her face as she stays seated atop him while he’s still inside her.  His expression couldn’t register the shock fast enough to see the woman he never expected to see in front of him.

“What’s wrong?” she asks him with wide brown eyes, her now dark strands falling over her shoulders.

“Where’s Lou?” Sam panics as he grabs her hips, ready to hoist her off.  She immediately clutches to his hands to stop him.

“But I thought you wanted _me_ now?” Lizzy asks him, pulling his hands off of her waist and locking her fingers into his.  “Don’t you?"

***************************

“I want to start a family,” Lizzy blurts as Dean’s lips freeze against her neck with the loaded and unexpected statement. 

“Ok,” Dean answers slowly, lifting his head to look her in the eye.  “We talked about that.  We can do that soon.”

“No,” Lizzy returns determinedly.  “I want that now.  I want to start trying.”

Dean sits back on his heels and peers at her.  “What about everything we’re stuck in the middle of, L?  That’s not just gonna disappear.”

“Screw it,” Lizzy answers, feeling suddenly like anything is possible.  “If you found out tomorrow that we were having a kid, would you keep hunting?”

“No,” Dean answers very quickly. 

“So let’s get out,” Lizzy says with much hope.  “Let’s just walk away right now.  We have each other and this is what we want.  Why wait?”

For some reason she is aware that Michael still exists and still wants Dean’s ass, but in her state, in what she’s beginning to think is actually a dream, it wasn’t an issue for some reason.

After staring at her for what feels like forever to Lizzy, she sees the smile break out on his face.

“Alright,” he nods, his smile growing even wider.  “Let’s go for it.”

“Yeah!?” Lizzy asks with utter glee up to him.

“Yeah,” Dean repeats.  “I mean, I’m not getting any younger over here and we’ve given enough of our lives to the cause.  I want out too.  And… a kid would be pretty awesome.”

“I love you so much,” Lizzy declares as she frantically pulls him down onto her to kiss him.  Dean’s lips make their way back down to her neck, continuing where they left off.  Lizzy closes her eyes with the feeling, her excitement charging her entire body, and she runs her fingers through his long hair.

Long hair… long hair… that’s not right.  That’s really wrong.  What the fuck!?

“Dean?” Lizzy questions with alarm and opens her eyes.  She doesn’t see the bright, pure white ceiling of the hotel suite above her anymore.  In its place is the dingy ceiling that she knows belongs in her usual room at Bobby’s house.  It’s lit very dimly and she blinks a few times with the jarring change.  “Dean?” she tries again, needing to hear his voice.

“Yeah?” Dean asks her back, her eyes following the sound of him to the corner of the room it came from.  He’s sitting casually in Bobby’s favorite upholstered chair that is normally in the living room and watching her with a very curious look on his face, one she can’t say she’s seen before.  “I’m right here, L.”

Taking a deep breath as her heart beats faster, Lizzy realizes that there are still lips pressing to her neck.  But if Dean’s sitting in that chair, then who’s on the bed with her?

Her hands grasping to the long stands around her fingers, she pulls the mystery person’s head up and looks into the hazel eyes staring back at her.

“You ok, Lizzy?” Sam asks her with calm concern while still settled in between her legs.

*****************************

“Lizzy…” Sam tries to speak while she remains on top of him, naked as the day she was born, with his hands entwined with hers.  “Where’s Lou?  I want Lou.”

“But you want me too,” Lizzy rebuts.  “I know you do.  I can feel it.”

She confirms his biggest fear; she knows.  She knows how he’s been feeling towards her.

“It’s ok, Sammy,” Lizzy says with a comforting hand to his cheek just like she always does. 

“Did you just call me Sammy?” Sam asks, weirded out by her use of the nickname.

“I want you too,” she says without recognizing his question.  She leans forward and brings her lips softly to his, as if testing the waters.  Sam can’t find it in him to deny her and kisses her right back.  “It’s really ok,” Lizzy whispers to him.  “Don’t be afraid.”

“What about Dean?” Sam asks, still highly worried about his brother’s reaction.

“What about him?” Lizzy says, kissing his lips slowly one more time.  “He doesn’t ever need to know.  We’ll just get this out of our systems.  No harm, no foul.”

For whatever reason, and even though he’s more than aware that this was the worst idea he’s ever heard of, Sam can’t stop himself from going for it.  He’s wanted her for a so long now, having looked from afar and only imagined what she’d be like.  He wanted a firsthand experience, so now he’ll indulge and get it.  It’s only a dream after all, right?

Kissing her with nothing but curiosity and utter want, Sam feels her move on top of him.  Her hips rise and lower deliciously as she works him over with a perfect pace.  Not too fast, not too slow, and exactly how he thought she would be. 

“Oh God Sam,” Lizzy sighs out as she enjoys him.  “So, _so_ good.”

“Lizzy,” Sam whispers out, enjoying how her name sounds coming out of his mouth. 

Lizzy keeps moving, going faster over time while still keeping her lips on his.  She kissed differently than Lou.  Lou was surprisingly slow, sweet, and deep unless she was in a hurry.  Lizzy was driven, bruising at times, and lustful.  He liked that.  It made him feel wanted, desired by the one person he couldn’t have but wanted very much. 

She sits up tall and keeps working up and down on him, her hands pressing into his chest.  Sam looks up to her in total awe.  Just as he had always though; she was beautiful while like this.  The way her face contorts just slightly the better she feels, her half smile on her lips as she breaths harder and harder, the bright glint in her chestnut eyes when they meet his, it’s all captivating him as he watches.

Pushing himself up on his arm, Sam uses his free hand to pull her towards him by the back of the neck, locking his lips onto his.  Her lips are something new to him.  They are full and needy, and he loves it.  God, the difference between her and every other girl is amazing.  The difference between Lizzy and Lou was quite interesting also.  He didn’t want Lou any less, he never would, but this was definitely a good change of pace.

Surprising him, Lizzy gets up off of his hips and separates the two of them, a devious smile on her face. 

“What are you doing?” Sam asks with half disappointment and half excitement, unsure of what her plan is.  Lizzy sits onto the backseat with her back to the side door.  She then pulls Sam down to her roughly.  Nose to nose, she grins up at him. 

“I want you to fuck me, Sam,” Lizzy says to him with something burning in her voice.  “I want you to fuck me so good it makes me crazy.”

Wide eyed for a split second, Sam registers what she asks of him.  Dean always told him much more than he had ever wanted to know about Lizzy in the bedroom.  It was as if he couldn’t hold back even if he tried as he was just so absolutely proud of the girl he’d found.  Dean had said she liked to talk sometimes, even had a pretty dirty mouth now and then, so her tone of voice and her words don’t surprise him all that much, but damn it they were fun to hear firsthand.

Sam, now dying for her, moves so that he’s on his knees before her.  He grabs her hips and pulls them hard into him, making her lay flat across the seat.  He lifts her hips slightly and thrusts hard into her, making Lizzy yelp.

“Oh Yeah,” Lizzy moans as she reaches to grab onto his forearms and he continues to push hard into her.  “Oh my God!  Sam!”

The pleasure washes over her and Sam feels that hint of pride deep within him.  And holy hell does she feel good.

“Oh yes,” Lizzy says as she drives closer to her own end.  “So much better, Sam.”

“What?” Sam asks with confusion, though never stopping his movements.

“Better,” she pants out, her nails digging into his arms.  “Better than Dean.”

“No,” Sam says, shaking his head and pausing.  That was the last thing he wanted to hear from her.  “That’s not true.”

“Yes it is,” Lizzy rebuts quickly, sitting up and looking into his eyes deeply.  “I want _you_ , Sam.  I made a mistake.”

“No, no you didn’t,” Sam begins to panic as he pulls away from her and backs up into the other end of the seat.  “You belong with Dean.”

“Then why are you here with me right now?” Lizzy asks.  “What does it mean?”

“I… I don’t know,” Sam answers, confusion setting in.  “I just…”

“Wanted to fuck me?” Lizzy asks with a hurt expression.  “You just wanted to have sex and call it a day, I would be free to go back to Dean?”

“I guess…” Sam stutters out as he looks away from her and tries to think.  “I never thought it out because I thought it’d never happen.”

“Well you need to figure out what this is, Sam,” Lizzy tells him, leaning forward and cupping his face, her tattooed arm standing out against her lighter skin making the image of Lou on it pop, just to make the guilt that much worse.  “Do you want me?  Do you love me?  Do you want to take me from Dean?  What is it?”

“I, shit.  I don’t know,” Sam honestly answers.

“Then start thinking, Sam-I-Am,” Lizzy says, pressing her lips to his again and making Sam jolt back into consciousness.

*****************************

“You ok, Lizzy?” Sam asks her with calm concern while still settled in between her legs.

“No, I’m not ok, Sam!” Lizzy shouts her answer in his face as she scrambles back against the metal frame of the old headboard to get away from him.  “What the hell is going on here!?”

“Relax, Lizzy,” Sam calmly answers to her as he moves up to meet her.  He brings his lips close to hers.  “It’s ok.”

Sam kisses her and she freezes, not responding in the least.  She can feel the anxiety creeping over her quickly.

“No, no, no,” Lizzy chants as she pushes his shoulders, making him back off.  “What the fuck?  Something is seriously wrong here.”  Lizzy looks down at herself, the white lingerie she had been wearing in her formerly excellent dream has turned into her everyday clothing, a bra and underwear she wears on any given day of the week.  Sam is only wearing his boxer briefs and the unbuttoned flannel she and Lou gave him a few years back.  The alarm grows deeper as she snaps her head over to the love of her life lounging in the corner, watching.  “Dean, why are you just sitting there?  What the hell?”

“It’s fine,” Dean answers while sitting back and looking extremely calm.  “I’m ok with this.”

“I repeat, what the hell!?” Lizzy shouts as she sits up all the way and keeps looking between the two brothers, her eyes briefly catching the goldfish bowl on the nightstand.  It’s the same one that was in the hotel room.  For now she ignores it, though it feels weird and suspicious to see it there.  “I mean, I’m a pretty open chick when it comes to sex and all, but this is too much.”

“Lizzy, please,” Sam looks to her with the puppy dog eyes she knows all too well.  “I’ve wanted this for a while now.”

“What does _that_ mean?” Lizzy asks him with shock.

“It means Sammy’s been looking at you differently lately,” Dean explains to her as Sam runs a hand over her mostly naked body.  Lizzy squirms with the unnatural feel of his touch.  It’s not Dean’s and it’s not welcomed in the least.  “He has some pretty strong feelings for you.”

“So what?” Lizzy says, grabbing Sam’s hand and removing it from her.

“So his life hasn’t been the easiest, you know that,” Dean further tells her, clearly not understanding why she doesn’t get it.  “With mom dying because of him and Lucifer out, and losing Jess and Madison and then Lou, Sam deserves to be happy.”

“I agree,” Lizzy says before turning to Sam who’s patiently kneeling in front of her on the bed.  “But this is a temporary fix at best.  This isn’t the way to find happiness.”

“Yes it is,” Sam answers back, grasping her forearms while sitting back on the bed and pulling her into his lap.  “This would make me very happy.”  With her knees to each side of his legs, he wraps his arms around her and pulls her flush against him.  Sam continues kissing her neck as Lizzy looks over his shoulder with an appalled look sent Dean’s way.“I don’t want this,” Lizzy tells Dean as she can feel Sam’s hands unclasp her bra.  “Baby, this is so wrong.”

“No it’s not,” Dean assures her warmly.  “Hey Sammy, pull her hair.  She likes that.”

Before she could protest, Sam’s hand tangles into her long stands and pulls downward, her head dropping back.  She once more looks up to the dingy ceiling with utter confusion.  This whole thing is awkward and so off.  Sam drags his tongue down her neck to her collar bone as he removes her bra with his free hand.  If she were in her right mind, she’d run, storm out of that room only after knocking the two of them out first for putting her through this, but for whatever reason she can’t and she knows it.  She has to stay.

As much as she hates herself for doing it, a small moan escapes her throat when Sam’s mouth travels lower and covers over her nipple.  It was completely involuntary.

“See, it’s not so bad, L,” Dean calls over to her.  “Give in.”

“No,” Lizzy defiantly says as she continues staring at the ceiling as Sam still holds her hair.  “No.  I’m yours.  You’ve always said I’m yours and no one else’s.  Why don’t you remember that?”

“I didn’t forget.  I’ll never forget that,” Dean tells her with all the love in his voice that he usually has.  “I’d do anything for you, just like I’d do anything for my brother and his happiness.”

Sam lets go of her hair and Lizzy looks back down from the ceiling.  The first thing she’s greeted with is Sam’s lust addled face, an expression she’s never seen on him before.  She feels like she’s looking at something forbidden that makes her skin crawl… but it isn’t so bad somehow.  It’s curious yet inviting to see him look at her in such a way.

“I know you don’t want this Sam,” Lizzy tells him as her defenses start to slip a bit.  “You’re like my fucking brother.  This is weird.”

Sam just smiles back at her and doesn’t answer.  Instead he brings a hand to her cheek and pulls her into another kiss.  Looking past Sam, Lizzy locks eyes with Dean.  He nods to her, asking her to go with it.

“For me,” Dean pleads.

Lizzy closes her eyes and does what the man she loves asks of her.  She kisses Sam back.  Fully aware of how wrong it is, she does it anyways.  Again, if this were real life she’s be out the door, swiping the Impala’s keys and driving away as fast as she possibly can.  However, she’s pretty sure this is still a dream now and in it she has to stay.  It’s just one of those unexplainable rules that dreams just love to put on the person sleeping.

While her mind rambles, she gets pulled back out when she hears Dean’s voice.

“That’s my girl,” Dean happily says to her when she starts to go with the flow and respond to Sam.

“Oh,” Lizzy moans as she feels Sam’s hand reach between her legs and snake inside her underwear.  She grasps onto the sides of his neck as he works her over.  Shit, she didn’t want to admit it, she didn’t want to give in and let this be a good experience in the least, but his hand felt damn good.  The longer he works, the more lost in the wonderful feeling she gets.

“So beautiful,” Sam smiles out as he watches her face to face. 

“Told you, Sammy,” Dean proudly says from his chair.

“I know but… damn,” Sam says with awe.

“And she’s all mine,” Dean proudly proclaims, his words defying his actions completely, as he lets what’s happening continue.

She hates that they’re talking like this with her right there but she’s gone already.  Maybe Dean passed down some pointers to Sam on this also because God damn it, he’s making her crazy.

Sam holds tight to the side of her head with his free hand and keeps her in place as she loses herself more and more, watching her intently through her frenzy.

“You want to see real beauty, slip a couple fingers inside her,” Dean directs to Sam, sharing his well-versed knowledge of Lizzy.  “She’ll go nuts.”

“Oh, ah, wait,” Lizzy calls out with hesitance but stops when she feels Sam’s long, dexterous fingers enter her.  “Ooh, shit.”  Her hold on him gets tighter, knowing she’s leaving nail marks on the back of his neck.

“Better than I imagined,” Sam grins dubiously. 

“Imagined?” Lizzy pants out in a moan, confusion and bliss mixing in her expression. 

Curling his fingers expertly, Lizzy gives up trying to stop him.  Her hip buck forward and back as she feels it build and build.  She can’t let this happen, she can’t.  It’s wrong.  But fuck, did it feel just too good to stop.  At this point she wanted this.  So what choice does she have?  Apparently she doesn’t.  As soon as the thought comes to her, her body completely betrays her conflicted efforts.

“Oh fuck!” Lizzy shouts out as she submits completely to Sam.  Moaning over and over as the waves hit, she knows Sam’s eyes are glued to her the whole time even though hers are screwed shut.  She can just feel them on her.  “Oh God.  Oh no.”

Lizzy covers her face with her hands and lowers her head.  She feels terrible about what she just allowed to happen.  She’s ashamed and so remorseful.

“Hey,” Sam gently soothes as he softly peels her hands away from her face.  “Don’t react like that.  It’s alright.”

“No it isn’t,” Lizzy answers with her head still bowed.  She can’t look at him, the awkward guilt being too much.

“I promise that it is,” Sam tells her, lifting her chin with a finger to have her look at him.  She ruefully does, peering into his wonder-filled eyes.  “When you let go like that, when you come… Lizzy…”  Sam pauses and brushes her bangs to the side in order to see her clearly.  “You’re breathtaking.”

She stares back into his soulful eyes, unsure of how to respond.  Lou told her Sam was possibly the sweetest man she’d ever met and now she knows why.  Things like this.  The moment, though adulterous as it may be, is just down right endearing with his adoration and complete respect for her.

“Sam…” Lizzy starts to tell him how sorry she is for going along with this, how absolutely amiss it was, but Dean cuts her off.

“L, don’t,” Dean tells her and Lizzy turns her attention to him while still sitting in Sam’s lap.  “He’s right.  It _is_ ok and you are gorgeous like that.  Sam needed to see you like that.”

Lizzy, looking back at Sam, finds herself seeing him differently.  Against her better judgment, she presses her lips to his and initiates a deep kiss all on her own.  She shouldn’t, it’s unseemly, but it didn’t matter.  He made her feel safe suddenly and so very wanted.  She’s warming up to him very quickly now.

Sam takes her arms and moves them until they’re circling his neck tightly.  He then hooks an arm around her torso and repositions her, laying her gently on her back.  Looking up at him, Sam grins reassuringly down to her as he takes the sides of her panties in his grip, lowering them down her legs.

“Bad idea,” is all Lizzy can get out as she knows what’s going to come next and it makes her worry all over again.  Sam doesn’t show any sign of backing off as he tosses her clothing aside to undress himself so she turns her head to the side to look at Dean for help.  “Hot Shot, I really don’t…”

“You gotta go with the flow a little better here, L,” Dean tells her as he leans forward in his upholstered chair, his elbows resting on his knees.  He concentrates on the scene in front of him and Lizzy sees she isn’t getting out of this one.  Sam returns to his place between her legs and looks hungrily down at her.  She sees the snake tattoo spiraling down his arm, the tattoo she knows doesn’t exist in reality, and it further distresses her for some reason.  Lizzy only glances up at Sam quickly one more time, the desire burning in his eyes scaring her now, before returning to Dean.

“Dean, please listen.  I… OH!” Lizzy cries out when she feels Sam push into her and jostle her out of her dream.

* * *

 

Both Lizzy and Sam inhale deeply as they get snapped sharply out of their dreams simultaneously.  They sit up in their respective places in the car, hearts racing and a thin sheen a sweat coating their skin.  Their dreams, feeling all too real for comfort, stun them completely and neither know what to do about it.  Sam may know what his was all about, but Lizzy is left completely in the dark.  It takes her by total surprise. 

“What the fuck was that?” Dean asks both of them with a start.  Seeing them both being shot straight out of their sleep like that at the same time is bothersome at best.

Sam and Lizzy turn to each other before quickly averting their eyes.  It’s awkward for both to look the other in the eye after witnessing mental depictions of utter disgrace like they just did.

“Had a bad dream I think,” Sam tells his brother while running a hand through his hair.

“You don’t remember it?” Lizzy questions him.  Hopefully his was nothing like hers just was because she certainly remembers hers and it was awfully uncomfortable.

“No,” Sam answers quickly, making Dean peer at him suspiciously in the rearview.

“Bull,” Dean calls him out.  “What was it?”

“I really don’t know,” Sam tries to lie again.  “The second I woke up it kinda disappeared.”

“Maybe I just picked up on you when you were sleeping,” Lizzy rubs her eyes and tries to logistically look at the weird occurrence.  “When you got booted out of your dream, maybe it did the same to me.”

“I’ll buy that,” Sam tells her all the while looking out the side window and not at anyone in the car.  He’s freaking out with how real his dream felt, how insane it was, and how worried he is that Lizzy knows now.  “Do you remember your dream?”

“Nope,” Lizzy also deceives.  “Just that I flew awake at the same time as you.”

Sam nods and everyone grows very quiet for a moment with Sam and Lizzy thinking about their fucked up dreams and Dean being left with a very unsettling feeling that he’s somehow out of the loop.

“Ok, so no more sleeping for me in the car,” Lizzy announces while shifting over to the passenger side and leaning onto the door.  “Want me to drive for a while?”

“I want you to get some rest,” Dean rebuts, upset that she’s giving up on finding any kind of sleep right now.  Two and a half hours wasn’t nearly enough.

“Clearly that isn’t gonna happen,” Lizzy forces out a smile.  “The next stop we make I’m gonna use the bathroom and I’ll drive after that.  That way you can catch some shut eye with Sam and later when it’s my turn to sleep, and _only_ my turn to sleep, I won’t be fucked with by you two and your emotions.”

“Fine,” Dean grumbles, knowing she makes sense with her logic but hating it anyways.  He sees a sign for a rest stop in two miles. “But you’re running in to get a coffee before you take over.”

“I can do that,” Lizzy says as she hides a yawn from him.

“And if you think you’re losing it and drifting, you wake me up!”

“Yup,” Lizzy responds, half listening to his overprotective warnings that she’s heard a million times before and rubbing the little sleep she could manage out of her eyes once more.  So fatherly sometimes... such a shame it’ll go to waste.

* * *

 


	17. Brain of L

* * *

Her dream, or better yet, her nightmare, kept Lizzy from even wanting to try and fall asleep again. Her mind really threw her for a solid loop with this one, she thinks as she sits behind the wheel of the rumbling Impala and drives. She's had sex dreams before. Honestly, who hasn't? But that one… well, it was not the fun kind of sex dream. She felt unclean and the images of it lingered. Trying to fall asleep again when the pictures behind her eye lids were that of Sam doing such wonderful and such horribly wrong things to her is impossible and she certainly didn't want to risk having another brain stabbing view of that, so drive it is while the men sleep.

As the passing scenery flies by, she's left with so many questions. First off… what the hell? Sam? Really? Sure, when they'd first met Lizzy had no problem checking him out. The dude is gorgeous and that body is unreal. She wasn't ever afraid to admit that. After they got to know each other, she and Lou would talk and her best friend shared a lot about who Sam was behind closed doors… or, more likely, on Bobby's couch… or in backseats of cars. Either way, that image of him had been put in her mind long ago and maybe somehow it got shaken loose, coming back in the form of a dream. Plausible enough for her to partially accept, but only partially.

The major problem with that logic is their present relationship with one another. Over time, after knowing Sam for so long, something happened with them. Sam became her family and the closer they got the farther from sexual attraction they got… or so Lizzy had thought. She sees him as a brother, her closest of kin, and she hadn't thought about Sam in any other way than that for so damn long until right now. She loved him fiercely, that's true, but not in the way that her mind took over and showed her.

So what now? Does she tell him? Does she just give it time to fade away and hope it was just a fluke? Fuck. The only thing she does know is that this one is not going to be told to Dean. Not after he grew so suspect of her and Sam a few months back. How he could ever have thought that she and Sam had that kind of relationship she doesn't understand. And it's thoughts like that that make her not understand her dream at all.

Maybe Dean's angry reaction to her and Sam falling asleep in the same bed during their time travel-mind fuck had something to do with him also being in her dream. That was fucking creepy. She shudders at the thought. The way he looked at her, told her to be with Sam, and stayed there the whole time with his eyes on her throughout everything that happened was super, unbelievably skeevy. She cringes as she can still see the intense look on his face. Sadly, for that reason alone, this dream might stick with her for a while.

It was an accident, that's all, Lizzy decides right then and there as she reads the approaching green highway sign. Her brain went totally haywire and made the most fucked up dream she's ever had. She'll ignore that it ever happened and let time work its magic. It'll drift away at some point, leaving her with no recollection of the dream at all. Or at least she hopes it goes that way.

"Really concentrating on the road over there," Dean's rough voice cuts into her musings and makes her twitch as it catches her off guard.

"Not anymore," Lizzy looks over to him with a sneer as his sleepy eyes peer at her. She turns down 'Buring Sky', even if she loves that song, to talk to him.

Dean sits up from his slumped over position in the passenger seat. He glances back behind him to see Sam once more passed out.

"How you holding up?" Dean wonders to her as he yawns. "Need me to take over again?"

"You only shut your eyes for a whopping hour, Hot Shot," Lizzy laughs quietly. "I'm still good to go."

"Let me know when you're not," he tells her.

"Back off, man," Lizzy slits her eyes and stares him down quickly. "You worry about me more than I think I worry about you."

"Not fucking possible," Dean says with a little levity.

"I promise to let you know if I need to stop for a while," Lizzy vows. "Now quit being so concerned over there. I can feel it. It's annoying."

"Sorry," Dean makes a face of dejection.

"Don't apologize… just, you know, cut the shit." Lizzy smiles through her nerves over her dream. Maybe it's good he's up to talk to and make her mind go elsewhere.

"Can't help it, L," he reminds her once more.

"Yeah, I know," Lizzy responds with a smirk as she lightly punches his arm. "Um, so I'm sorry I lost it so hard earlier, after leaving Nathan's." Lizzy sighs and watches the road. "My emotions are so fucked up right now. I can't control them at all. They've practically taken on a life of their own."

Dean shakes his head with despondency at her apology. She's trying to deny everything she said earlier, trying to pretend she's ok when he knows so much better.

"You know you can be honest with me," Dean reminds her as he watches her face closely. "You weren't being pushed by anything… that was all you."

She keeps her sights trained on the road in front of her with a clenched jaw.

"Look, I know you're a tough little badass, alright?" Dean tries again, knowing she's just trying to remain the strong person she always appears to be, always believes she has to be. "But the stone faced shit can be put aside for a second. It's just me so go for it."

"I had to come to terms with it all," Lizzy explains to him, her face once more drooping. "For some reason, I never let myself swallow that one last bitter pill. I think it was my last island, you know? My last little piece of hope for this life, for our life. How stupid of me to think we'd get out one day, huh?"

"I have no idea how you allowed yourself to have that for so long," Dean washes hand down his face. "Honestly, I found it admirable for a long time that you were so determined to hold on to that dream. You always could do that. You always could look forward and find something worth looking forward to."

"Delusional thoughts from a clearly senseless hunter," Lizzy comments acridly.

"Maybe," Dean starts, putting his leather gloves back on as the conversation gets increasingly heavier. "But hunters are cold, calculating people who have not an ounce of optimism. They become these hardened, miserable asses who beat the fuck out of everything bad that crosses their paths in order to cope with the loneliness and depression. You were never like that."

"Until now." Lizzy looks at him with knowing eyes. The desire for a family paired with the belief that it would happen was the last bastion she had. Now that it's fading fast, she's going to be just like the others, she just knows it.

"Nah," Dean denies as he takes her hand closest to him off the wheel and into his, encasing her fingers in both of his leather layered ones. "You could never become that."

"Well then aren't you gonna be disappointed when you wake up one day lying next to an old, pissed off hunter who's exactly what you just described."

"And I'll die before I let you become that," Dean tells her, fully intending to keep his word. "You're different from the rest of us…"

"The angels made sure of that," Lizzy remarks quickly, reminding him that she was just a product of their molding, that she's different for a reason.

"That they did…" Dean pauses while looking at her hand in his. "But I still refuse to believe that you're completely who they made you to be. I still think that you're you by other means than angel intervention."

"And what makes you believe that?" Lizzy has to ask, not believing him at all.

"Because you make me fucking angry sometimes," Dean admits with a smile. "If they made you totally perfect for me then I wouldn't want to kill you when you get annoying."

"You want to kill me sometimes!?" Lizzy asks with wide, shocked eyes. "For what!?"

"You're not the easiest person to live with, L."

"Oh what!? I am a pure delight!"

"Sometimes," Dean tells her truthfully with a quiet laugh at her comment. "Other times not so much. When you get blackout drunk, you can be mean. Really mean."

"So can you!" Lizzy sends right back to him. "I clearly remember you calling me, and I quote, a withholding bitch the last time you got wicked plowed and I turned down you're sloppy groping."

"Ok, easy there… I wasn't that bad."

"You were blacked out so how do you know?" Lizzy challenges with a sneer.

"Whatever," Dean drops it, knowing she's making a good point. "You also always hound me about eating better and not working out enough…"

"Because I want you to be around for a while and not drop dead from clogged arteries in your early thirties."

"You also fight me all the time, usually about the stupidest things…"

"Because you're always wrong." She grins at him and annoys him once more.

"And you have to talk all the time. It never stops," Dean tells her, recounting the many things she's said to him in the past just to have a conversation for the hell of it. "And you yap about any and everything, too. Sometimes it isn't even important. What you ate yesterday, what I said to piss you off, how you feel about your Glock verses my 'girly' Colt, why I would make a better batman than Clooney…"

"You would!" Lizzy fights back. "I stand by that statement."

"L, you once even tried to talk to me about what you would do if you were a dog instead of a human…"

"That's because I was stoned. Doesn't count!" Lizzy rebuts quickly. "And right now, if I were a dog, I'd probably take a piss on your car for being a dick."

"And I'd send you to the vet to get spade the second you did!" Dean warns with a pointed index finger. "All I'm saying is, if it's silent you immediately fill it with your voice and sometimes a little peace is good."

Lizzy says nothing in return and stares out the windshield. Shit. Dean quickly thinks he went too far and made her upset. That's the last thing she needs right now. That's also the last thing he needs right now.

"Look, I'm not like ticked or anything," Dean tries to dig himself out of the hole he's made. "I'm just pointing out that you aren't exactly perfect for me. I think you're still you, the you that you would have been with or without me."

She still stays silent.

"L, come on…"

"See!" she suddenly says. "You love my talking. Without it you get uncomfortable and skittish."

"Such a bitch," Dean complains through a grin while shaking his head and squeezing her hand tighter.

"And you might be right, Detective Winchester," Lizzy continues. "Because if I was perfect for you, I'd probably take your shit with a smile instead of try and beat you down now and then."

"Yeah, good point," Dean agrees quickly. "I put up with a lot from you, you know? You're really tough on me."

"You need it," Lizzy says with obvious truth and a shrug. "Can you imagine what you'd be like by now without me keeping you're unruly ass in line?"

Dean stares over at her with the question and waits until she pries her eyes off the road briefly to look at him. His expression is sincere.

"I absolutely can't imagine what a mess I'd be without you." His voice is serious and soaked in his love for her.

Lizzy looks back to the road with a smile that breaks her cheeks. He was so sweet sometimes, usually letting out his few moments of heartfelt reverence once every-other week tops.

"You're turning into such a girl," Lizzy remarks, her wide smile never fading a bit.

"I blame you for that."

"Dickbag."

"Slut."

Lizzy huffs a quiet laugh at the name he calls her, one that hold a little more meaning for her when it comes from him, and tightens her grip on his hands. "I love you too."

* * *

Sam sigh loudly from the passenger seat as he blinks his eyes hard against the strain on them. He's been staring at the screen of his laptop for hours now, searching for any kind of answer to their current problems. Sadly, it's been a crapshoot.

"What's happening?" Dean questions as he drives on, peering quickly into the back seat to see that Lizzy is still asleep. She is and he's grateful. She needs it.

"Dead end after fucking dead end is what's happening," Sam's distended voice informs his brother. "There's so much damn lore on gypsy curses that I don't even know where to begin. And what's worse is I can't tell what's real and what's total crap."

"Why don't you give it a rest for a while then," Dean suggests, seeing the fatigue and frustration in Sam's worried face.

"Gotta find answers," Sam rebuts, just wanting so badly to give Lizzy the help she needs.

"And that's why we have Bobby," Dean explains. "He's got the reputable sources we just don't right now. He'll figure it out. Take a break before your eyes go blind or something."

With heavy reluctance, Sam closes his laptop and stows it under the seat. Dean was showing him concern and actual compassion and he'll take it where he can get it. Once he no longer has a screen glowing in his face, his eyes welcome the reprieve from the assault and begin to hurt much less.

"Give me the box?" Dean asks of his passenger and Sam hands over the shoebox of cassettes at his feet. Dean puts the box in his lap and rifles through his selection. "So I gotta know, how'd you do it, Sammy?"

"Do what?" Sam asks, not exactly sure but fairly certain what Dean's referring to.

"Figure out where the gypsy is," Dean makes clear as he pops out the current Bad Company tape that Lizzy had put in and tosses it in the box. "We had zero leads yet in less than an hour you had a location down to the friggin' town."

"Like I said, I have my ways," Sam answers simply enough, not looking for a fight.

"Demonic ways?" Dean wonders, having a hunch, as he pops in the Rolling Stone's 'Aftermath' album.

There's a pause in the car as Mick Jagger tells them what a drag it is getting old and Sam's troubled. How does he explain what he did without Dean getting upset with him?

"It was a spell," Sam answers quickly while taking the box from Dean and dropping it back on the floor at his feet.

"A demonic spell?"

"Enough with the demonic, Dean," Sam's agitated voice says a little too loudly. He looks behind him to see if he's woken Lizzy up. Luckily, he hadn't.

"What am I supposed think then, huh?" Dean challenges, making sure his voice remains low. "First you claim to be still Jonesing for another hit of demon sauce for the power alone and now you're pulling rabbits outta your ass like some kinda supernatural magician. What the fuck Sam?"

Taking a deep breath to control his anger, Sam pauses before answering.

"It was a spell I picked up last year," he cautiously answers. "From Ruby."

"So it was demonic?"

"Maybe, but you don't have to be a demon to make it work," Sam makes clear. "No demon blood needed, no demon anything needed. I think it was just a spell she knew."

Nodding silently, Dean drums his thumbs on the steering wheel for a second as Sam shifts in his seat with the uncomfortable thickness in the air between them.

"Please try and trust me here," Sam says while staring straight out of the windshield instead of at his brother. "Lizzy needs our help and I knew how to help her. That's what matters here. This curse…"

The moment the word curse leaves his mouth the stereo in the car cuts out as if it had been turned off. They both look at it with perplexity.

"That was weird," Sam states the obvious.

"Yeah it was," Dean concurs as he reaches out and turns the knob. The stereo fires right back up and continues playing the beginnings of 'Stupid Girl' as if nothing had happened. "It wasn't a short. It just turned off, like someone manually turned the knob."

"It ever do that before?" Sam wrinkles his brow while still staring at the now lit up stereo system.

"Never." Dean wouldn't allow a defunct stereo in his baby. Music is too important to him, just like keeping his car in mint condition is.

"Huh," Sam wonders. "Maybe it's getting old."

"Maybe," Dean brushes off but it left with a weird feeling as looks at the dashboard.

"Dean!" Sam shouts out suddenly and points frantically out the window. "Look out!"

Slamming on the brakes, the Impala skids to a halt after a couple seconds of tire burning. The change in momentum makes Lizzy roll forward in the backseat as she wasn't belted in and she's jostled awake. She catches herself just in time when she presses her hands to the back of the front seat, preventing her from falling to the floor.

"What the fuck?" Dean slowly asks with utter confusion as he looks out the windshield at the thing in the middle of the road that caused him to stop short.

"Shit, what happened?" Lizzy asks as she sits up and joins the other two by staring with shock at the large deer standing in the middle of the backwoods road. It's a massive buck with huge antlers and it is still as a statue while smack in the middle of their path.

"Why is it just standing there?" Sam asks quietly as they all see the animal slowly turn its attention to them. It stares at the car, eyes alit with the headlights, and doesn't move. The color reflecting off its iris' is an eerie deep red, making it appear almost evil.

"I think there's something wrong with it," fears Lizzy as the animal begins a languid walk to the car, staring down the windshield as it does. It feels like an eternity before it covers the few dozen feet that had been between them. It pauses once more as it stands in front of the hood of the Impala.

"This is fucking weird," Dean grumbles as he honks the horn twice in rapid succession, hoping the scare away the deer. Instead it has the opposite effect. The animal takes four large steps backwards, lowers its head, and rams it's large antlers into the grill of the car. "Whoa!"

"Shit!" Sam yells out at the same time. He hears the driver's side door open and quickly he has to yank Dean's arm as he attempts to get out of the car with anger. "Dean, Jesus! Stay in the car!"

"Fuck this deer," Dean spits back and tries to get out again, this time both hunters have to physically keep him inside.

"Dean, stop it!" Lizzy yells to him as he keeps a tight grip on the shoulders of his coat. "That thing'll kill you!"

Sitting back down with frustration when he sees he won't be getting out of the car, Dean closes the door and instead reaches into the glove compartment for his gun.

"Crap," Sam says with some worry when he sees the large deer back up once more. Head lowered and snarl in place on its lips, the deer thrusts forward and makes the entire car rock with an even more forceful hit. The buck backs up a third time but before the animal can repeat its actions, Dean has his hand out the driver's side window. Aiming to the sky, he fires three rapid shots. The loud booming sounds make the deer's eyes suddenly return to its usual black color, pulling it from its trance, and it runs off frightened into the woods.

"That's right Bambi!" Dean angrily yells out his window after the retreating animal. "No one fucks with baby!"

"Ok, that has to be the strangest thing I've ever seen," Lizzy says with wide eyes and racing heart as Dean actually gets out of his car this time. "And I mean, come on, it takes a lot for me to say that."

"Same here," agrees Sam. "The curse?"

"I'd say!" Dean angrily agrees while walking to the front of his car to inspect. Once he gets an eyeful of the damage the sudden urge to punch something hits him hard. "Fuck! This week sucks!"

"How bad?" Lizzy asks him while leaning out the window.

"Bad enough," he grumbles. "Hood's dented, so is the grill. Baby's gonna be deformed until I can get back to Bobby's and fix her up."

"Let's just get the hell outta here, huh?" Lizzy uncomfortably says while scanning the tree line to either side. They don't need anything coming for them again while Dean's outside of their armored tank of a car.

"Way ahead of you," Dean tells Lizzy as he's walking back around and dropping into his seat. He runs a hand along the dash gently. "I'm so sorry baby."

* * *

 


	18. I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore

* * *

"So I got two rooms next to each other," Lizzy informs the other two hunters as she leaves the office of the Traveler's Motel. This place was tiny and overly rundown, but at this point all three are just looking forward to crashing so it didn't matter. "You're bunking up and I'm staying next door. I'm not risking anymore nightmares because of either of you."

Dean scrunches up his nose at the idea that she won't be in the room with them. He can't look after her if she isn't with him.

"I'm salting the windows and doors before you fall asleep," Dean tells her as he stands up from leaning against his car to take one of the keys from her.

"You've had less sleep than I have, or Sam," Lizzy shakes her head no. "I'll line the place before I pass the fuck out. You just go get in your room and catch whatever shut eye you can manage before we talk to Bobby."

"Fine," Dean grumbles.

"Hey, stop," Lizzy says to him lightly as she sees his dislike for the situation take hold of his attitude. She knows it's because they're separating. "It's just for now. We'll survive."

"Yeah," he laments as he drags his feet toward his and Sam's designated room like a child.

"Here," Sam calls to her as he tosses her duffel over after grabbing it from the trunk. She catches it with a smile.

"Thanks Sam-I-Am," Lizzy says while heading toward her room. She leaves them as the sun comes up with a, "Have a good night guys!"

"Night, Lizzy," Sam says to her before he turns to grab his laptop.

"Night," Dean reluctantly says, feeling weird about having to part for the night.

She opens the door to her room and turns back to face Dean. Before disappearing, she mouths  _'Love you'_ to him and winks, making sure he knows how she feels even though she's well aware that he most certainly does.

Dean nods with a reluctant look as she closes her door. His bad mood is getting worse and worse. He woke up in the best head space he's been in in so long just twenty-four hours ago. So much for that….

Flipping through the television channels for a bit once he's dropped his things, washed his face, brushed his teeth and kicked off his boots, Dean only stops when he hears his phone beep. He pulls it out of his pocket while watching Sam take out his laptop for some last second research to read the text.

_Never mind. I won't survive. I don't like this either. This bed is freakin' huge without big ass you in it taking up all the space._

And that got Dean to smile for the first time since she got back from the gypsy shop with a curse laid on her. He types a message back.

_We'll have to figure this out fast. I can't sleep anymore unless you're stealing all my blankets like a selfish bitch._

He can hear her laugh through the wall.

* * *

Quietly unlocking the door to Dean and Sam's room with the extra key she kept, Lizzy turns the knob and pushes it open slowly with the hopes of not disturbing them. Sleeping for only a few restless hours, she decided she needed to clear her mind and the best way she knows how to do that is with a good old fashioned, ass kicking work out. She hasn't kept up on her defense training as well as she should have and right now she craves the endorphin rush she always gets from it.

They look like they're still sleeping so Lizzy cautiously walks across the room, looking to grab her boots that she mistakenly packed in their weapons bag in their rush to hit the road.

Once she has her footwear in hand, she looks over at the bed closest to the door… the one that usually belongs to her and Dean. He's fast asleep, not even flinching with her breaking and entering. Either she's good or his senses are getting dull these days. Maybe it's the old man's hearing, she humorously thinks and she wishes he was awake for her to tell him that one.

"Hey," Sam's voice whispers out to her and she sharply turns towards him. He's sitting up and looking at her through tired eyes. He looks like his night was as sleepless as hers was.

"Hey there, Sam-I-Am," she whispers back slightly disappointed. "Sorry if I woke you."

"Been up a while," Sam very quietly admits, his own worries keeping him from finding rest. "Can't sleep."

"Just getting my boots," Lizzy explains as she takes a step towards the door.

"You gonna do your training stuff?" Sam asks her, remembering her mention it a day ago.

"Ah, yeah," Lizzy honestly responds, hoping he won't offer to join her.

"You sure you should?" Dean's voice calls out, half muffled by the pillow he's buried in. "You're leg and arm are still pretty cut up from that poltergeist. Can't feel too good."

Dean rolls over in his bed and looks over to her, a hand behind his head to prop him up a little. He didn't wear a shirt to bed last night. Damn it, Lizzy thinks. He looks so damn good.

"Didn't mean to wake you," Lizzy apologizes with a warm smile.

"You weren't exactly quiet, you know," Dean's sleep roughed voice tells her. "And having a conversation in the room didn't help. Don't you think you should take it easy?"

"Nah," Lizzy says, taking a seat on the end of Dean's bed and trying to keep a safe distance between them. "I'm ok."

"Just check your leg before you do anything, make sure it's still healing right. And new bandages."

"Will do, doctor," Lizzy vows. "I just need to do some kind of training. It's been a while for me."

"I'll come with ya'," Sam tells her as he gets out of bed. She can't train with Dean because if she does she runs the risk of making contact with him and getting sucked inside his emotions again. And, honestly, some time alone with her might be good for him. Maybe it'll help sort out what the hell is wrong with him and how he suddenly keeps viewing her. Even with the chance of revealing his feelings for her, he needs to do  _something_  to find an answer and fast. He can't live like this any longer. "Give me like five minutes."

Sam gets up and heads for the bathroom and Lizzy sighs. She doesn't want time alone with him right now after that weirdo dream but he takes away any chance of avoiding that.

"You ok?" Dean asks her while sitting up in bed and moving down a little, getting just slightly closer to her. The distance thing sucks and he treads lightly, but really he wants to touch her so badly it actually hurt.

"Yeah, fine," Lizzy quickly answers, feeling like she's being obvious. "Why?"

"You look like shit," Dean answers her. She lifts an eyebrow with his insult. "Very pretty shit, but shit none the less."

Grinning to her with his sleep-messed hair, pillow creases on his cheek and bare chest and shoulders, she can't help but smile. Damn, he's adorable sometimes and moments like this make her stomach flutter still.

"Well, as long as I'm still pretty," Lizzy huffs as she reaches a hand out to fix his bed head for him.

"Lizzy, don't…"

But then it's blackness again. The blank state she's in leaves her with only the feeling of love. And not just any love, like she loves a good cult movie or a nice Jameson on the rocks. She feels true love at its absolute purest. Her heart swells with it, the utterly virtuous nature of it completely filling her soul. She knows what this is. It's how he feels about her. It's so powerful that it would knock her over if she were standing up. She's blown away by the strength, conviction, trust, and need that comes with it. It's hopeful, good to its root, and so deep that she's completely enthralled by it.

And just like the two times before, she's suddenly and without warning thrust back into the present world.

"I forgot," Lizzy winces when she sees the concern on his face as everything comes back into focus.

"I can see that," Dean responds, his hands dropped in his lap as he fights the urge to physically comfort her. "I'm almost afraid to ask." She felt hell and the dark, empty hole in his being already. What other horrible shit could she have experienced this time?

"No," Lizzy's voice comes out in a chokes whisper as she smiles to him. "Don't be. It wasn't like the last times."

The tears forming over her bottom eyelids combined with the earnest smile on her lips confuses him.

"I felt how you feel about me," Lizzy explains, blinking away the tears. "I felt love. You're love for me."

Dean just peers at her for a moment, unsure of what to say. He knew this thing worked in transferring everything to her that he felt, but he had yet to see the positive it could have. This go around wasn't devastating for her. He couldn't be happier for that.

"So it was a good thing this time?" Dean half smiles to her.

Lizzy nods her head rapidly with a wide grin. "Absolutely. And I knew what it was immediately because it's exactly what I feel for you. To a tee."

One single tear makes its way down her cheek and instinctually Dean reaches to wipe it way, stopping himself halfway to her.

"Habit," Dean says with disappointment as he once more drops his hand into his lap.

"I know," Lizzy returns and sighs with her need to touch him. She's never had to hold back with him, at least not physically. It's harder to do than she could have ever estimated and she's over it already. She wipes the lone tear away with the back of his hand. "We gotta figure this out."

"Yeah, no shit," Dean huffs a laugh with her comment, knowing exactly what she means.

"I miss you," Lizzy says with a serious look. She's seen him constantly, but that's not what she's referring to. Not being able to just reach out and simply take his hand in hers or fix his hair when it's unruly without gloves on is killing her. Not to mention that right now, weary eyes and sleep coated grin in place, he looks delicious.

Dean stares right back for a beat, getting from her exactly what he should have. He knows he can't, but he'd give anything to run next door with her right then and there, make good use of that free room she had.

"Yeah, uh," Dean shifts a little where he sits and looks away. Rubbing a hand through his hair, Dean clears his throat. "You should probably leave."

Smirking, Lizzy can feel how turned on his is. He's dying, she knows it. Lizzy finally understands the power she holds in this relationship and she can't help but grin like an idiot over it. Such wonderful information to be privy to, she thinks. She stands up while still smiling at him.

"Sam-I-Am! I'll meet you out back in five!" Lizzy shouts out before heading for the door. She glances to him one last time as she shuts the door behind her. God damn, she loved him. It still even shocked her now and then how much so. And that moment they shared, one of total want and love, proves she's still in her right mind. That dream about Sam was definitely an accident.

* * *

Lizzy dove in hard with her work out that morning. With the stress of everything on their shoulders combined with her current curse, she needed this. She always felt better after working her frustrations out physically and since sex was out for now this was her perfect alternative.

Starting Sam and her session with the usual intense ab work routine that she took from her years of dancing, she then had them move on to a combination of squats and arm work including pushups and several exercises she stole from her self-defense trainer. Since Sam was clearly the stronger of the two, she took it upon herself to go harder on him, at one point sitting on his back with her full weight while he completed his final set of pushups.

"Come on, little Sammy," Lizzy pushes from sitting atop him with a grin. "Five more and I'll get off ya'."

"Screw you," Sam grits through his teeth, trying to concentrate on getting through her intense regiment. She was pretty damn good at this, making a shockingly great motivator that was relentless.

"Big words from such a weak man," Lizzy taunts as Sam hustles past the last five in the set before lying flat on the ground on his stomach. He sighs his relief as Lizzy stands up off of him.

"I hate you," Sam breathes heavily with his cheek resting on the grassy ground below him.

"And I'm impressed," Lizzy compliments. "Didn't think you'd get through all that. I didn't go easy on you, dude."

"Yeah, well, I'm tougher than I look," Sam quips as he rolls over and looks up to her.

"Get up," Lizzy smiles to him as she take his hand and pulls. Now standing, she brushes off the front of his shirt to get the dirt that collected on it off for him. "You ready to fight now?"

"Super ready," Sam huffs with sarcasm as he walks over to his bottle of water on the ground. He's pretty tired but that might be a good thing. Monsters don't always attack when you're well rested.

"Just think of it this way," Lizzy explains while lifting her t-shirt over her head. "You'll be able to crush Dean with a hand tied behind you back when I'm done with you."

Sam laughs at her comment, completely believing her, while he watches her toss her shirt aside, leaving her in just her tight black yoga pants and bright pink sports bra. Shit, he thinks to himself. He's been doing so good during this little session of theirs until now. Once she's wearing so little, her skin slick with sweat and her cheeks rosy with exertion, she's looking good. Oh hell, she's fucking hot. What he wouldn't give to…

"Straight spar?" Lizzy questions him while taking a sip of her water.

"Um, ok," Sam answers back as he looks away from her. Ok, time to concentrate. Don't let her kick his ass and don't get too close to her somehow… right… no problem…

Stretching her head side to side and jumping from foot to foot for a quick second, Lizzy loosens up for her favorite part of her work out – fighting. She had a penchant for it, a need for kicking ass, and Sam was always a more than worthy opponent. The size difference made for quite the challenge for her, on top of the fact that he was stronger now than he's ever been. But she knew how to work with every type of adversary; tall, short, lean and quick, large and slow, and every combination in between.

"Alrighty, Sam-I-Am," Lizzy challenges while grabbing a long sleeved t-shirt off the ground and pulling it on. Better be covered and safe from emotional transfers than sorry. "Bring it."

"Don't talk shit to me, woman," Sam smiles to her. "You know I've taken you down before and I'll just do it again."

"Wanna bet on it?" she smiles as she puts on the new shirt.

"Bet?" Sam questions with raised eyebrows and a small smile.

"Yeah," Lizzy answers back adjusting her leather gloves. "You pin me, and I mean actually pin me where I seriously can't get out, then I'll do your next laundry trip for you."

Sam nods as he lets the idea settle in. He didn't hate it.

"And what if I can't?" Sam wonders, looking for the flip side before he agrees.

"Then I get to pick out the next chick you take home," Lizzy smiles evilly with something excited in her eyes.

"No way," Sam quickly answers, hating the idea of that, as he fiddles with his own leather gloves. He felt it only safe that they both cover their hands, especially if they were to spar. The short sleeved t-shirt with the gloves looked silly, but what did he care really?

"Oh come on!" Lizzy tries again. "You know I'd never steer you wrong! I would pick out a hottie, that'll be part of the deal."

"And one day of laundry is equal to you pimping me out to a drunk chick?" Sam rebuts, not seeing how this bet was fair at all. It felt awful lopsided.

"Fine, you get me and I'll do your laundry for a month plus I'll find a way to make you the chicken parm that Lou was famous for. I win, you have to put the moves on the hot chick of my choosing."

Sam sighs and shakes his head, not exactly comfortable with this bet at all.

"Sam-I-Am, this is the safest bet you'll ever get in your life," Lizzy explains, her leather covered fists on her hips. "You win, you get clean clothes and delicious food. You lose, you get laid! Are you crazy or just fucking stupid?"

Sam stares her down with narrow eyes, thinking it over. She makes a good point. It is a win-win for him. And with the bet in place he knows he'll never go easy on her. He'd much rather get laundry and a solid meal than get laid at her discretion.

"Fine," Sam says while walking towards her, his own gloved hand extended. Lizzy smiles with the fun bet and gasps his hand, shaking it firmly to seal the deal. She should have seen it was a trap, in all honesty, but before she could do anything about it Sam turns her around and pulls her into himself. He manages to lock his free hand around her throat while holding her right arm in his grip behind her back.

"Son of a bitch," Lizzy complains because his grip on her neck is just strong enough to cut a little of her air off. That is another thing about sparring with Sam that she loves. Dean is always too cautious. He never wants to hurt her and if he so much as gives her a bruise he feels bad about it for an entire day. Sam didn't fuck around. He knew the importance of playing it as real as possible because their lives depended on how well they fought.

Lizzy lands a hard jerked elbow into the side of Sam's stomach with her free arm. He reacts with an 'oomph' and it's just enough to get him to loosen his grip a little. Lizzy reaches up and grabs Sam's forearm and pushes hard, his hand losing its grasp on her neck. She gets a few steps away from him but Sam brings both his hands to her right wrist that he still had a hold on. He pulls her arm downward with huge force, making her double over, before he continues pulling her arm back and upward again in an aggressive circle. She flips forward in the air before crashing to the ground hard on her back.

"Fuck!" Lizzy shouts and rolls to the side swiftly, before Sam could land on her. She scrambles to her feet and backs away in order to regroup. "You sneaky asshole!" She points at him accusingly.

"I want to win," Sam says lightheartedly as she starts planning another attack. Her patience in past spars has made it clear that he'll always have to make the first move. It was always smart on her part and he thinks it must have been part of her training.

"So do I, sweet cheeks," Lizzy winks as she takes a ready stance.

Sam advances on her cautiously and with cunning, knowing her usual tricks and getting ready for all of them. Throwing the first fist, Lizzy ducks quickly as her reflexes are sharp, something Sam hates about fighting her. Her reaction time is always astonishing.

Lizzy knows that when Sam throws a punch, he puts his weight fully into it. Right after a missed shot is when he's most vulnerable. She shoves him hard in the chest, sending him a few steps back with the force. Lizzy covers the ground between them quickly and lifts her right leg, bending it in before kicking him hard in the shoulder. Sam, now off balance again, almost misses the following upper cut she attempts with her left fist.

He blocks her to her surprise and Lizzy tries again, her right fist almost catching him in the cheek. Sam ducks under her blow. Instead of stand back up, he gets inspired. Ramming a shoulder into her stomach, Sam pushes her to the ground. She once more falls onto her back with force, her breath whooshing out of her lungs as she does. This landing is much harder than the last and she doesn't have a chance to get out of the way. Sam pounces on her, sitting on her stomach with a knee on either side of her. She tries to throw her fists but he's quicker. He gets both her wrists in his hands and pins them to her sides.

"Shit," Lizzy complains as she struggles to get free to no avail.

"Ha!" Sam taunts down to her. "Record timing."

"There is no way I am going down this easily," Lizzy's labored voice returns as she pulls against his hold on her.

"Don't think you have a choice," Sam smirks. "Make sure you use fabric softener on my delicates."

Lizzy's eyes go wide with anger at his gloating. He speaks too soon however when Lizzy suddenly flashes back to a little trick Dean once come up with for her if she ever got caught like this. It's brilliant, really.

"This is gonna hurt," she warns up to him before lifting her legs up off the ground behind him. Being flexible has its serious advantages and Lizzy manages to bring her legs around his sides and presses them to the front of Sam's shoulders. She pushes her legs down with all her might, forcing him to fall back onto the ground behind him.

"Ah!" Sam shouts when the back of his head hits the ground. Refusing to give her an inch more, his grip on her wrists tightens as she jumps onto him. Lizzy now straddles his chest while kneeling and pins his arms against his sides under her knees.

"Let go," Lizzy sternly asks of him as her arms are still indisposed by his hold.

"No fucking way," Sam says back, never one to give up.

Lizzy rocks forward, pushing her weight up and quickly scooting her feet underneath her. She digs the toes of her boots into his stomach and sits slightly back onto her heels, pressing her boots into him hard.

"I could force you to let go by making this hurt really bad," Lizzy warns, keeping her full weight off her boots. "Or we can just pretend I did it and save you the pain. Let go."

"I hate you," Sam complains once more as he lets her wrists go. Lizzy stands back up with a smile and backs away.

"We'll call it a draw right there, even if I really won," she explains cockily, taking her stance again.

"I'm gonna kill you," Sam grins to her in an overly sweet manner as he gets up himself, quickly rubbing the back of his head.

"You ok?"

"I'm fine, Lizzy," Sam grumbles with her sweetness.

"Then bring it, tough guy," Lizzy says playfully, a spark in her eye. Sam sighs as his mind goes to a place it shouldn't. As her messy bangs fall over one eye, skin glistening with sweat, she looks damn good to him once more. And this is the only way he can touch her in almost any way he wants so he might as well take advantage.

"You know what?" Sam says, dropping his hands to his sides and standing tall. "Come at me."

"No way," Lizzy says, wanting to win this bet of theirs.

"You're such a shit talker," Sam calls her out. "So prove how badass you are already. Come at me."

Lizzy smiles, licks her lips (not helping Sam's cause) and does just that. She rushes him and throws a combination of punches Sam was almost unprepared for. Almost.

She swings at him relentlessly and in a completely calculated manner, but Sam anticipates her every move. He blocks every blow, except for a left uppercut that just clips his chin, all the while taking steps backwards, getting her to follow him. Every step gets them closer to the outside wall of the motel, right where he wants her.

The next punch she attempts, Sam grabs ahold of her forearm with both hands. He turns her and flips their position, pushing her back roughly into the wall. Sam leans his forearm into the front of her neck and successfully pins her against their lodgings.

"Fuck Sam," Lizzy complains, his bare arm keeping her in place. She tries to kick him but Sam steps even closer to her, the side of his hip pressing into her body and keeping her in place. She has nowhere to go. She lost. "Crap."

Sam smiles while trying to catch his breath. He's won, but he isn't really thinking about that in the moment. Instead he's caught just looking at her. Lizzy's hair is falling all over and breathing heavily with the physical exhaustion, and he just can't peel his eyes away from her lips as they purse with every exhale.

Lizzy suddenly finds herself in a similar situation. She peers into his hazels eyes that are capturing her attention so fully she forgets where she is for a second. Then her eyes travel down to his lips. She never noticed how inviting they are before now. She wants to feel them on her own. Without consciously doing so, Lizzy leans her head forward in an attempt to kiss him before she realizes what she's doing.

* * *

 


	19. Do You Love Me?

* * *

She never noticed how inviting Sam's lips are before now. She wants to feel them on her own. Without consciously doing so, Lizzy leans her head forward in an attempt to kiss Sam before she realizes what she's doing. Once she gets just an inch from him, the light bulb goes off in her head suddenly.

"Shit," Lizzy huffs out when she sees what she's about to do. "Sam, get off me."

Sam doesn't move at first, only partially hearing her as he continues to eye her lips.

"Sam!" Lizzy shouts, pushing against him again. "Back off!"

"Sorry," Sam says instantly and steps away from her. The second his bare arm is off of the skin of her neck, Lizzy's eyes go wide as her desire for him completely disappears.

"What he fuck was that!?"

"I don't know," Sam looks away, the guilt and panic hitting him immediately.

"Yes you do!" Lizzy accuses as she points to her neck. "You touched me!"

"What?" Sam asks, confused.

"Your arm was on my neck. Skin to skin, dude!" Lizzy explains. "You transferred your feelings onto me. Holy shit!"

The two remain quiet as Sam shuffles on his feet, his hands on his hips as he looks only at the ground, and Lizzy calms a bit with his awkward demeanor. Seeing him so shy and suddenly looking like a child takes her anger right away. Sighing heavily, Lizzy takes a seat against the wall to collect her thoughts. God damn it, what now? It's always something.

"I was gonna kiss you, Sam," Lizzy says while looking up to him, using a much more even tone of voice after taking a moment. "Why was I suddenly gonna kiss you when you touched me?"

"I don't know," Sam denies completely once more. His embarrassment won't let him be honest.

"Please, stop lying," Lizzy requests of him. "Tell me the truth. Did I just pick up on what you were feeling?"

Sam sighs loudly and once more looks to the ground. His silence says it all.

"Huh," Lizzy sounds, getting the answer from him without his talking. Another moment of quiet follows as they both try to come to terms with Lizzy's new knowledge.

"It just kinda happened," Sam simply explains.

"What did?"

"My… looking at you… differently," Sam tells her as his face goes pink with humiliation. "It just kinda happened one day." He paces back and forth in front of her with his anxiety in overdrive.

"Ok, that's a start," Lizzy commends his honesty, hoping to get more out of him before he shuts down Winchester-style. "Can you sit down or something? You're making me nervous… or more nervous than I already am."

Sam walks to her and takes a seat on the ground with his back against the wall also. He leaves a good couple feet between them and faces the tree line across the clearing behind the motel. Actually looking at her through this conversations is impossible with the shame he experiences.

Lizzy drops her head back against the siding behind her and squints up at the bright blue sky. This can't be good. It's bad enough that she's already been trying to get him to stick around. Now she worries that he's a serious flight risk now that she's aware of this issue.

"For how long?" Lizzy asks.

"Not too sure," Sam answers. "Might have been building up over time."

"But why?" Lizzy asks, not understanding at all, after knowing each other for so long, why he chooses now to start feeling this way toward her.

"Why not?" Sam returns quickly, picking up the rocks he finds around him. "You're the only woman I'm ever around. You're good to me. You care about me. I don't have to be someone else around you, or be ashamed of who I've been in the past around you. And I don't have someone like you have Dean to distract me. Seems like it was a long time coming honestly." He tosses one pebble across the yard, looking for any distraction to make this conversation more bearable.

"I can understand that," Lizzy agrees with his self-psychoanalysis. "So… how do you feel about me?"

Sam wrinkles his brow with the question.

"Like, is it just a sex thing?" Lizzy further pries. "Or is it emotional too?"

"I think it's just… I'm suddenly really attracted to you," Sam answers, feeling the weight of this situation finally lessen with his honesty. "For me, it takes more than good looks to grab me and make me want to take something any further usually. Not to say you aren't pretty or anything…"

"I didn't think you were saying that," Lizzy assures him with a tight lipped smile. He's so flustered with what he has to explain that she just wants to make it easier on him.

"Good," Sam answers. "I just need to be comfortable with someone before I'm good with going anywhere with it usually. I'm comfortable with you so…" He just shrugs the ending of his sentence rather than say it.

"What about the randoms then?" Lizzy pries. "You've had a few here and there…"

"Which are always a means to an end," Sam confesses. "They're fun and all, but mostly they're just necessary now and then." Sam pauses and tosses another rock before fiddling with yet another one in his hands. "I don't want to take Dean's place or steal you from him or anything like that."

"Well that's good," Lizzy huffs and Sam smiles a little, glad she's being as understanding and reasonable as she is.

"It's not about that. It's just… um, it's kinda tough, you know?" Sam squints over to her in the sun. "You and Dean have such a good thing, and I want you to have that, I really do. I want that for Dean too. I really couldn't be happier that you have each other, but I…" Sam sighs when words fail him.

"I get it, ok? I can't imagine having to deal with two people like us every day. I would be envious, totally," Lizzy tells him. "I'm sorry if the way we act makes you feel… um, weird at all. For lack of a better word. Or if it's just tough for you in any way to be around us."

"I… I think…. Look. You're the closest woman to me since Lou. You've kinda, uh, taken her place in a lot of ways. You listen to me, really listen, and you help me when I need it. You have total faith in me and you honest-to-God care what happened in my life. You love me like family and the only difference left between what I had with Lou and what I have with you is, um, the whole physical thing."

"You figured a lot of this out already, huh?" Lizzy looks to her side and Sam looks back.

"Yeah," he admits.

Lizzy smiles. "Now we just gotta figure out how to get it to stop then."

"You could start by not walking around half naked when I'm around," Sam quickly suggests after looking away again, throwing more of the rocks he found. She was a very open person and never felt the need to cover up around him that much.

"I can do that," Lizzy promises. "That one's easy."

"And if you could tone down the sex talk, that'd be good too."

"Now you're just trying to change me," Lizzy jokes as she nudges him with her elbow. Sam looks back to her with an expression that says he's not trying to do any such thing. "I'm kidding. And I can do that too."

"Thanks," Sam returns. Another semi-awkward silence falls on them.

"Shit, can I ask you something?" Lizzy asks, cutting into the quiet.

"Sure."

"And you promise to be honest?"

Sam makes an uncomfortable face but agrees. "Yes."

"Why did that chick the other night say the two of us needed to talk before storming out?"

Sam pauses and nods his head, knowing this would come up sooner or later.

"Because…" Sam takes a deep breath. "I called her your name."

"Oh Sam no," Lizzy groans and drops her head in her hands. "Ok, so this is a little more serious than I thought it was."

Sam doesn't answer because he doesn't know how to. This is super fucked up, he's super fucked up, and she knows it now.

"You know, I liked her style a lot. Guess I know why now," Lizzy tells him, realizing now how many similar features she shared with the girl that Sam pissed off.

"I didn't pick her consciously, I promise that," Sam informs her with rosy cheeks from embarrassment. "Kinda shocked myself when I looked over to the passenger seat while driving to the motel. I figured I woulda tried for her blonde friend."

"That is your usual M.O," Lizzy agrees. "Hey. Um, this is gonna maybe sound nuts but what was your nightmare in the car that woke us both up about?"

"Why do you ask that?" Sam questions with alarm as his focus snaps onto her.

"It was about me, wasn't it!?" Lizzy practically jumps with his transparency.

"Um, uh," Sam stutters at first before swallowing his nerves. "Yeah."

"I hate this curse," Lizzy wallows while her palms pressed to her eyes. When the images from that dream start playing out through the darkness of her close lids she immediately uncovers them again. "You were in mine too. I picked up on your dream, dude."

"I thought you might have."

"It was… pretty… involved."

"Shit," Sam complains, the rose color turning to bright red.

"Um. Was… oh God. So don't wanna ask you this," Lizzy tries to get her question out but the fear of his answers stops her temporarily. "I'm sorry but I have to know… was Dean in your dream?" She makes a scrunched up face of disgust while waiting for Sam's answer, hoping he isn't that fucked up.

"What!?" Sam nearly shouts while horrified, leaning away from her with the shock. "No!"

"Oh good," Lizzy very heavily sighs her relief.

"Was… Dean… in yours?" Sam needs to know, his eyes blown wider than she's ever seen them.

"Yeah," Lizzy answers and she watches Sam's face pale.

"NO!"

"Oh, shit, no!" Lizzy tries to stop his panic.

"Lizzy, that's disgusting!"

"Stop! No! Not like, like that!" Lizzy hastily ensures when she realizes how that sounded "Ah! Ick! Gross, Sam!"

"Very fucking gross." Sam shakes his head with gratefulness. That would have been way over the line.

"Brain-scarringly gross. Ew! No, he wasn't, like, in the dream. He was just… kinda… there," she tries to clarify. "Not… uh… participating."

"That sounds awful," Sam mutters with the uncomfortable thought.

"It was," Lizzy confirms. "And it's your fault."

"Sorry," Sam apologizes as they both look off at the tree line for a beat.

"You're not gonna run away or anything now, are you?" Lizzy quietly asks him. It's the one thing that's been worrying her the most through this whole painful conversation. They can figure this weirdo attraction thing out and fix it, but not if he flees.

"We have to find a way to un-curse you. Or de-curse you," Sam tells her. "I would never leave when you need me."

"What about after?" Lizzy pushes.

Sam shrugs and stays quiet. Shit, she thinks. He's gonna leave. She doesn't want that at all.

"Just know, even with this," she points back and forth between them. "I still don't want you to leave."

"I know you don't," Sam smiles honestly while getting up from the ground. "I'll do what I can." He reaches out to her with his gloved hand and pulls her up with him.

"So will I," Lizzy warns with a lifted eyebrow before they begin gathering their things.

"What do you think Dean's gonna say?" Sam worries aloud now that he's sure they have to tell him. "You think he'll try to kick my ass for real this time?"

"How about this…" Lizzy offers. "You figure this out and remain open and honest with me about it all the while, and we don't bother. I am trying to get you to stick around after all, aren't I?"

"Yeah," Sam nods gratefully. She's always looking out for his best interest. Allies like this are hard to find. "Alright."

Lizzy reaches up and drops a heavy, gloved hand on his cheek. "And officially, this is a draw by the way." She pats him hard twice in the face, bordering on slapping him, with a grin.

"Fucking bitch," Sam lightly calls her before they head back into the motel.

* * *

 


	20. And When It All Falls Down

* * *

Walking into their room after her much needed shower, Lizzy flops down onto the nearest bed, sure to steer clear of getting too close to Dean as she does. He's sitting up against the headboard looking at her with an expressing of 'what the hell?'.

"You already showered?" Dean asks her with high disappointment. "No underwear show today?" Usually she showers in the room that all three share and only has the basics on when she rejoins them from the bathroom, not bothering to get dressed until she gets to her bag in the main room. This time she took the fun away by staying in her room for the good part.

"Don't need you getting all revved up over there, Hot Shot," Lizzy says to him with a smirk as she drags her brush that she brought with her through her damp hair. "Next thing you know you'll be getting all handsy and sucking me into your emotions again."

Sam just smiles to himself from behind his laptop at the table with her excuses. He knows she only showered in her room for his benefit. She's trying to help, as always. It's nice to have someone looking out for him like that still.

"L, I've got nothing over here," Dean complains, tossing the remote control onto the comforter with annoyance. "Can't touch you  _at all_  and now you've taken away looking too? You suck!"

"And you're being way too whiney," Lizzy laughs with his discontent. Sometimes he acts like a child when frustrated or not getting his way. Sadly, she even thought that was cute. Changing the subject! "You catch up on your sleep?"

"As well as I'm gonna," Dean tells her as he takes out his phone. "We ready to call the old man and check in?"

Without waiting for an answer, he's getting up and dialing Bobby's number. Putting his phone on the table while on speaker mode, the three quite down and listen to the line ring.

"Dean," Bobby's gruff voice greets.

"Hey Bobby," Dean responds. "Gang's all here, you're on speaker."

"Hi Bobby!" Lizzy calls out to him, never able to hide her happiness to talk to him

"How you holdin' up, Liz?" Bobby wonders.

"Oh, you know," Lizzy says in a mock-carefree voice. "Just feeling everyone's emotions and pain as if it were my own while handling it with perfect grace and dignity. Nothing too out of the ordinary." This makes her think of something and she gets up and walks to Sam. She places a hand to his forehead and immediately looks at him with letdown.

"You been staying away from the horny toad over there," Bobby questions her.

"I resent that," Dean sternly tells Bobby following the insult.

"Been doing what I can," Lizzy lets him know, and it was the truth. As much as it sucked, she's done a fairly solid job of not going near him. And a creative job at that when necessary. Digging into their medical supply bag, she pulls out the ibuprofen.

"Good," Bobby cheers. "Didn't think you could do it, but good."

"Hey, I do have  _some_  willpower in me," Lizzy smirks, pouring out three pills.

"L, please. You're a freak too," Dean adds in. "We all know it."

"True," Lizzy hesitates, remembering her sex speak promise she just make to Sam. "You find anything yet?"

"I did," Bobby says evenly.

Lizzy sets the pills on the table next to Sam and pulls his bottle of water closer to him. She points to his back and silently tells him to take the pain killers as she can feel how badly his back is hurting after their sparring.

"Then go for it, Bobby," Sam finally pipes in, opening a blank document on his laptop in order to record what they need to do. He then pops the pills in his mouth and downs then, not willing to fight her on the issue.

"I found a crap-load of old gypsy rituals that are supposed to break curses," he begins explaining. "It's kinda hard to weed out which ones would work though. I've got everything from bathing in salt for a day to burning twigs of certain herbs to transferring the curse onto another living being."

"Oh, I can't just hand this shit to another person," Lizzy denies immediately as she drops down onto the bed again. "We gotta either break this thing or I live with it."

"I figured you'd say that," Bobby grimly answers, knowing she'd never agree to forcing her curse onto another. "I got a few small spells you could do to stop the curse from getting any worse while we figure out just how to break this thing for good."

"Gets worse?" Dean asks with serious concern. "This thing will get worse?"

"Gypsy curses generally do," Bobby continues. "I emailed the spells to Sam and you can get to it after we figure out how we're gonna go at this thing in the long run."

"What do you suggest Bobby?" Lizzy asks, looking for a real answer instead of a temporary solution. She begins playing with her charm bracelet out of anxiety as she really isn't liking where this conversation is going. Fiddling with Mary's bracelet is her nervous habit go-to these days.

"Before I can propose anything we're gonna have to figure out how that gypsy got this curse on you."

"What do you mean?" Sam asks, typing away already.

"I mean there are several ways for a gypsy curse to be cast on a person," Bobby explains. "Some just do it the quick way, muttering some words and that's all. If she touched you, it's even worse. However, if the hag meant business then she probably took something from you, used it to place the curse on, then returned it to you without you knowing. If she did that then we're talking a whole new level of fucked here. Those kinda curses are nasty and at best very hard to beat."

"How nasty we talking?" Dean cautiously inquires.

"Could be as bad as death nasty in some cases," Bobby quietly answers. "She didn't take anything of yours, did she Liz?"

Sam turns quickly to her. "She just touched your head and said some words, right? That's it?"

"I think so," Lizzy answers and she nervously continues touching the bracelet on her wrist. "I mean, I think I would have noticed something gone by now."

"Then consider us lucky for once," Bobby says with some relief. "I think what we should do is go with the easiest, lightest hold-off ritual first and see if…"

"Shit," Lizzy complains aloud while bringing her wrist up to eye level to look closer.

"What is it?" Dean asks her.

"I'm missing a charm," Lizzy says heavily. "How the hell did I manage to lose a charm?"

Dean winces with her words. That piece is important to him and hearing this hurts. What's worse is the devastation on Lizzy's face as she looks at him.

"L, it's ok. Accidents happen," he tries to make her feel better through his own disappointment.

"No, that sucks," Lizzy grumbles, heartbroken. "The pentagram's gone. How did I not notice?"

"Hey, let's focus here, huh?" Bobby calls their attention back. "Sam, you taking this down?"

"Hold on, Bobby," Sam asks him to pause while looking over to Lizzy. "Did that gypsy ever hold onto your hand or wrist while we were there?" He has a nagging feeling, like he tends to get, and had to pry. He just can't shrug off his suspicions and he could have sworn he witnessed the old woman hold onto Lizzy's arm and hand.

"Yes," Lizzy says with a fright coated voice.

Sam sighs heavily. "You think she could have taken the charm?"

"If she's a fucking master pick pocket, yeah," Lizzy answers, not seeing how it would be possible. "That or a magician."

"Or just an old gypsy who's been around for a while and knows some tricks," Bobby responds heavily. "You better hope you don't have that charm on you somewhere, hon. I suggest you go check what you were wearing that day."

"Oh God," Lizzy panics as she runs next door to grab her bag. After running back into the room, she drops the duffel on the floor and pulls out her jeans and jacket she'd worn the day before. As Dean and Sam watch with wide eyes, Lizzy frantically reaches into every one of her pants pockets first, coming up empty handed. She does the same for her jacket and freezes when her hand closes around a new item.

"L?" Dean asks low with fear.

She bows her head and closes her eyes. Slowly she takes her hand out and holds it open for all of them to see. It's the dingy, dirty handkerchief the old woman had been coughing into relentlessly during both her visits and it's crumpled in a ball. Carefully she unfolds it and in the middle of the stained cloth is her missing pentagram charm.

"Fuck!" Sam laments in a shout when he sees it. "Why would she do that!?"

"Shit, did she curse you with that charm!?" Bobby nearly shouts as he's listening.

"Yeah, Bobby," Lizzy unsteadily answers as her stomach drop to the floor. "She did."

A stunned silence takes the room for a moment.

"Shit, shit, shit," Lizzy lets the panic in as she drops the cloth holding the formerly missing charm onto the carpet. "What do I do!?" Her voice is rushed and she's gripped with fear. This is not good, not at all.

"First you don't lose your shit." Bobby's own voice, though stern enough to be affective, gives him away. He's nervous just like she is. Very nervous. "There's always a way out of everything and we'll find it."

"Yeah, ok," Lizzy answers shakily while she draws her knees into her chest as she sits onto the floor by the handkerchief. She stares at it like it's death incarnate, knowing how dangerous the simple, innocent looking item is.

"And you need to give me a little more time now," Bobby requests of her. "Can't afford to fuck anything up. I don't know how much time we have before things start getting worse so I'll try to move quick."

"Oh God," Lizzy worries aloud as the weight of the situation starts to set in.

"I'll call a couple of people on my end, see what they can add," Bobby continues. "For now though, I suggest you find that old bitch. Curses are bad juju. They come with bad luck, bad omens, and everything else bad in between."

"What about my whole empathy shit?" Lizzy wonders loudly. "Will that get even stronger just like the rest of the curse?"

"Good chance," Bobby admits. "Just stay away from people as much as you can and watch your ass."

"Ok," Lizzy agrees. "Shit, Bobby. This is crazy. I want this fucking curse off now."

The second she finishes her statement, a loud, almost deafening burst is heard in the room, making the three hunters jump with the auditory assault. It was forceful, the power of it reverberating in their chests. It's followed immediately by the sound of glass shattering and tumbling to the floor.

"What the fuck…?" Dean trails off as he gets up and walks into the bathroom, where the sound came from. "The mirror is shattered."

"What the hell was that?" Bobby questions.

"The mirror in the bathroom just broke," Sam explains. "We were all out in the room when it just broke after a really loud bang."

"That makes no sense…" Lizzy trails off with shock.

"Balls!" Bobby complains. "That can't be good. I'm gonna start calling people. Keep me well updated and tell me everything!" Bobby hangs up to gather information as fast as he could.

"L," Dean's worried voice calls to her. "Come in here."

Lizzy slowly gets up off the carpeted floor with a fearful glance to Sam. She makes her way while forcing her feet to move, getting a bad feeling about what she's about to see. Walking through the doorway with cautious steps, she peers inside. She finds glass all over the floor and a few intact pieces still randomly stuck to the backboard the mirror was held on.

"How did that happen?" Lizzy asks with a furrowed brow.

"Look closer," Dean tells her, nodding to the still hung pieces of mirror. She sees five jagged chunks still stuck with cheap glue to the backboard. When she clearly doesn't see what he's referring to, Dean steals a pen from Sam. When he returns he connects the dots for her, drawing on the exposed plywood. When he's done she just hunches her shoulders.

"A fucking pentagram," Lizzy says as she looks at Dean's work, the chunks of glass making the five points to the star he drew. "Just like the charm she took." Lizzy leans closer, inspecting the remains of the glass. "Why would that happen?"

"It's a curse," Dean tells her. "It's main objective is to fuck with you."

"Well good job curse," Lizzy comments while being drawn into her reflection in the remaining pieces. She has no idea why she is peering so hard into the reflective surface, but she has to. Staring into her own eyes, something pulls at her attention completely. She watches as her eyes suddenly morph from her own into the cloudy blue ones of the old gypsy. "Shit!" she shouts out with a start and backs up frantically until her back hits the wall as she desperately rubs at her eyes.

"L!?" Dean calls out with absolute distress, not knowing what sent her into the state she's unexpectedly in.

"What color are my eyes!?" Lizzy panics as she looks Dean. He pauses with her odd question. "Dean! What color!?"

"Brown," Dean answers with utter bewilderment as he sees Sam come to stand in the doorway of the bathroom and look in. "Like they always are. What's going on?" Dean very cautiously holds the sides of her shoulders, sure to not make skin contact.

"I don't know," Lizzy answers while backing away from his grip. The closeness makes her pick up on Dean's alarm and that compounded with her own is too much to deal with. She looks over to him with dread. "My eyes, when I looked at myself, they looked like hers."

"The gypsy's?" Sam questions.

"Yeah," Lizzy tells him. "They were blue and cloudy and my skin was wrinkled around them. Am I hallucinating?"

"I didn't see anything," Dean has to inform her. "I'm pretty sure only you saw that."

"So I  _am_  hallucinating," Lizzy confirms for herself and she presses her palms to her eyes. "Fuck. I've always hated doing psychedelics."

"Come on," Sam says in an even tone, trying not to heighten her anxiety, while ushering her out of the disastrous bathroom. "Sit down and relax for a second and let me read through those spells Bobby sent us. Maybe there's one that can head this off and stop you from imagining too much more."

"Ok," Lizzy answers with shock still in her voice as she shuffles out. As she plops onto a bed with a hunched back, Sam and Dean exchange very,  _very_ nervous looks.

* * *

"How's it going in there?" Dean asks after knocking on the door of the bathroom Lizzy was occupying.

"Fucking peachy," she responds while lounging in the bathtub. She has a lit white candle sitting on each corner of the tub while soaking in herb and salt steeped water. She has the distinct feeling that this spell for curse cleansing is a crock of shit and isn't working, but if Bobby sent it she'll give it a whirl. It  _was_  a little relaxing… or at least it started that way. As the bath water cools and the salt begins drying out her skin she's getting more and more uncomfortable. "How much longer do I have to do this?"

"Until the water's cold," Dean reminds with a smile. "But you already knew that."

"Feels like this is taking forever."

"Aw, suck it up, Noonan!"

"Fuck off, Winchester," Lizzy grumpily responds and closes her eyes. She'd like to see him do this without complaining. He wouldn't make it. Dean is the king of bitching.

Dean sits down at the table across from Sam as his brother searches the area for any gypsy related anything that could help find the old hag that did this to Lizzy. They left the shattered mess of their own room and are now taking up residence in Lizzy's. Hopefully nothing else gets destroyed while they're there.

"Anything?" Dean asks, grabbing the whiskey bottle he ran across the street for the second Lizzy shut the bathroom door and cracking the cap.

"Just started," Sam responds, looking up to see Dean tilting a glass of whiskey in his direction. "What the hell, right?" With a sigh, Sam takes the offering as Dean pours another for himself.

"I'm gonna kill that bitch," Dean says in a quiet though acrimonious tone while taking down a hefty sip. He's been doing everything he can to keep his anger and protectiveness down but it's getting increasingly harder to do the more they see of this curse.

"I think I just  _found_  that bitch," Sam says while sitting up tall in his seat with instantly wide eyes as he looks at the screen in front of him.

"What?" Dean excitedly asks.

"Check it out," Sam says while turning his laptop around for Dean to see. "This look familiar to you?"

Sam points to the picture of the front window of a gypsy store in town. The lettering on the large window looks just like that of the store back in Wyoming. It even has the same, crescent moon design in the bottom left corner.

"Very," Dean answers with sudden hope. "Is it new?"

"No," Sam quickly replies. "It's been there for a few years. Let's go check it out." Sam gets up and puts his jacket back on.

"We're not leaving her here alone," Dean stops him. "Shit's going nuts. What if something happens and no one's here to help her?"

"You stay here then," answers Sam as he pulls the leather gloves they'd been using out of his coat pocket and tosses them onto the table near his brother. "I'll let you know what I find."

"Just watch your ass, Sam," Dean requests. "This old hag is dangerous."

"I will," Sam says while marching out the door.

"And keep me posted!" Dean calls as the door flies shut loudly.

"What's going on!?" Lizzy asks from the bathroom after hearing the slamming door.

"Sam went to go look into something," Dean loudly tells her while walking to the closed bathroom door. Leaning against the frame and crossing his arms over his chest, he smiles to himself. "Cold yet?"

"Not quite, almost there," Lizzy tells him.

"Figures, huh?" Dean remarks as he hears the water splashing with her movement.

"That me being in a bathtub butt ass naked would be a requirement of the job when you can't touch me?" Lizzy grins out.

"Exactly," Dean smiles also.

"Don't start, Dean," Lizzy asks of him seriously. "No getting me all worked up."

"Sam's not here though," Dean adds with sheer longing. "Could always have a repeat of the other day…"

"You're impossible," Lizzy quips as she submerges herself under the water to avoid hearing his lame attempts to hit on her that she knows he's going to say. Once under the surface, Lizzy takes a moment of silence to calm her thoughts. For once she isn't picking up on anyone else's emotions and she can relax. It's the little things in life…

Then the tranquility stops and is replaced by the feeling that she's being watched. Out of instinct she opens her eyes and looks up at where the water meets the air and panic grips her heart. Through the clear, wavering surface she can see the old gypsy woman leaning over the edge of the tub and glaring down at her with crystal blue, almost unnatural eyes. She sees her mouth move, as if she's trying to tell her something, but under the water Lizzy can't make it out.

Scrambling up above the water with a large splash, Lizzy sputters and coughs as some of the water goes down her throat in her moment of panic.

"Lizzy!?" Dean shouts into the bathroom through the still closed door as he hears her struggling.

Lizzy looks around frantically while continuing to hack as water comes up her throat. The woman is gone and it's as if she was never there, not a sign of her around. What the fuck!?

"L!" Dean shouts as he pushes in the door and is immediately on the tile floor, kneeling next to the tub while reaching for her.

"Dean!" Lizzy coughs when she sees his bare hands heading for her. "No!"

Grabbing her by the shoulders, he recognizes the mistake the second he makes it.

Blackness and fear. She knows she's inside him again and this time, like the first two times, isn't fun. Panic, fear, worry, and everything else that comes as a side effect of his love for her. It's so fucking strong. She always knew he was overprotective of her, but now she knows why. When her life is threatened, this is what happens to him. She's locked in a box of absolute alarm and not even her panic attacks could compare to this. It's harsh and consuming. It's unbearable.

"Hey!" Dean calls to her and she comes to, looking up at him from the tiled floor of the bathroom. She's still in his hold but the now wrapped around her towel prevents her from actually touching him. Taking several deep breaths she lays back, letting her head rest on the cold floor, and takes a moment to collect herself.

"Way to add insult to injury there, Hot Shot," she remarks up to him.

* * *

 


	21. Help is on the Way!

* * *

Swallowing hard as he gets out of the Impala, Sam eyes the familiar looking storefront window with a massive amount of trepidation. He has a good idea of what he's going to find inside the store and he's nervous to say the least, but at the same time his anger for what the gypsy has done to Lizzy is coursing through him.

Sam pops the Impala's trunk and pulls out a handgun. He left his usual Taurus back in the weapons duffel on the floor of the motel in his haste to check out their only lead so he uses a backup. Once it's stashed behind his back, he doesn't give himself the time to have second thoughts. He walks right up to the front door, pulls it open, and steps inside.

Looking around swiftly, Sam is taken completely off guard. The place is nothing like the Wyoming store and nothing at all like he expected. This store is clean and the shelves are well stocked. The lights are on, the colors are bright, and the whole place has a welcoming vibe. There's still a table for readings in the corner but it's new, not splintered and falling apart. And to top it all off, the entire store is offending-odor free.

"Hello!" he hears a cheery voice greet and Sam turns to the back counter to see a beautiful woman standing there looking back at him. She has to be no more than a few years older than he is and she's showing him a bright white smile on her painted red lips. Her hair is jet black and long, the waves in it cascading down past her shoulders, and her dark, inviting eyes are lined perfectly with black eyeliner. "Come on in!" she waves him over and the several gold bangles on her wrist jingling loudly with the gesture.

"Uh, hi. Um," Sam says with a mix of shock and awe as he walks towards her. He certainly wasn't prepared to be greeted warmly by a quite attractive woman in a much updated store so he's a bit flustered.

"What can I help you with?" she asks once he reaches the back counter, the woman leaning over the counter with her elbows on the surface. She looking at him warmly, probably excited just to see a customer.

"I, uh," Sam shakes his head to clear his clouded and confused thoughts. "Sorry, hi. I'm looking for someone."

"Was it me?" she smiles wider up to him jokingly.

"Well, no," Sam stutters through, letting how pretty she is get to him a little. "Ah, this place is nice." Looking around the store once more, he realizes how true that statement is. This store is inviting, unlike most occult places he's been to.

"Oh, you know," the woman waves her hand through the air while standing up tall. "Just trying to change the western world's view of gypsies one customer at a time. It's no big deal."

Sam awkwardly huff a laugh. "I'm, um, looking for an older woman. She's much older than you."

"Ok, what's her name?"

"Actually, I don't know," Sam answers, realizing for the first time that they had no idea what this old woman's name was. "But she was working in a shop just like this in Wyoming."

"Wyoming?" the attractive woman echoes as her voice dips and her face drops. "Why would you be looking for  _her_?"

"She's here, isn't she?" Sam pries with high hopes, his heart skipping now that he may be on her trail. "You know her?"

"What do you need her for?" she asks with guarded wonder and narrowed eyes. "What did she do?"

"Ah, well…" Sam starts while rubbing the back of his neck in awkward discomfort. "She might have had an interaction with a close friend of mine."

"What kind of interaction?" the young woman asks, suddenly looking much less surprised and crossing her arms over her chest.

"A cursing kind of interaction," Sam admits hesitantly.

"Rahat!" she exclaims in a different language in a way that makes Sam fairly sure it was a swear. "So you know about things such as curses?"

"Oh, I know a lot about a lot of things." The way he says it lets her know he isn't exaggerating in the least.

"Just as I thought," she tells him without a hint of shock. "We call your kind urmaritor a raului."

"My kind?" Sam says with a half-smile after she so easily sees through him.

"Yes. Pursuers of evil. Or, to the layman, hunters."

"I'm that transparent, huh?" Sam questions with a small smile still on his face as she's amusing him very much.

"Gun behind your back, holes in your jacket, questioning and businesslike demeanor… you might as well be a window," she laughs. "Is your friend with you?"

"Back at our motel."

"Why did she curse you're friend?" she asks while walking into the back room and disappearing from sight.

"We aren't sure," Sam elevates his voice so she can hear him as he stays by the counter. "She just kinda did it."

"That doesn't make sense," she answer's back. "She would never put any kind of curse on anyone without good reason."

"You know her well I take it?" Sam wonders.

"Of course," the woman adds while walking back into the front room of the store, a large burlap bag in her hand along with her purse slung over her shoulder. "She's my grandmother. She arrived yesterday without explanation so I figured something was up."

"Guess I came to the right place then," Sam smiles to her, so happy to finally have someone possibly helpful on their side.

"That you did," she says with a smile as she extends her hand. "Ecaterina. Call me Rina."

"Sam," he smiles as he shakes her hand. "Call me Sam."

"Oh boy," Rina says while looking up at him with a worried expression once she has his hand in hers. "She really doesn't like you, does she?"

"As a matter of fact, no," Sam admits. "Why do you say that?"

"With an aura like yours, I'm not surprised," she responds while grabbing a set of keys from her purse. "Damn. I'm shocked she didn't just curse  _you_."

"So am I," Sam adds. "She kinda hates me I think."

As soon as he says it, a glass canister containing sage bundles slides off the counter and shatters onto the floor all on its own. Rina stares wide eyed at the broken glass on the floor.

"Ok…" Rina trails off. "I'm getting a better picture of what's going on here."

"Yeah, it's been getting worse and kinda attaching itself to me and my brother too."

"Oh boy, I could kill her for this," Rina complains about her grandmother.

Sam follows as she makes her way to the front of the store, ignoring the new mess on the store's floor. He walks through the front door that Rina holds open for him. At least Rina isn't running away from him like her grandmother did. That's got to bode well for his aura to a certain degree, right? "Uh, so I'm not very welcoming? My aura, I mean?"

"No, actually," she smiles to him. "You've very welcoming. I like the sense I get from you, honestly. You just have an evil lingering over you… but you yourself are quite good. At least I think so."

"Good," Sam smiles sweetly back.

"Where are you staying?" Rina inquires as she locks the store up.

"Traveler's on route 190," Sam informs her as he takes the keys to the Impala out of his pocket.

"Swanky," Rina offhandedly remarks before turning to him. "I'll follow you there."

"Ah, I could just give you a ride," Sam offers, knowing he's already putting her out by having her do a house call. Plus, he wouldn't mind her company one bit.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Rina says to him. "I just met you. You're a stranger, a large sized one at that. I think I'll take my own car, Mr. Dark Aura."

Sam nods with a bashful smile. "Fair enough."

* * *

"What was she doing?" Dean questions as he paces the floor.

"Just looking down at me from the side of the tub," Lizzy answers, shaking out her wet hair. Once she gathered herself and put some clothes on, she came out into the main room and has been sitting on one of the beds while going over everything for Dean. "Her eyes were bright blue, like when she was reading my list of items back at her shop, and she was moving her mouth like she was trying to talk to me, but I couldn't hear her."

"Are you sure she wasn't really there?" he grills her.

"Yes, I'm sure," Lizzy answers once more. "The second I came up above the water she was gone. She was never there. It was in my head or something."

Dean keeps striding around the room and staring at his phone while trying to figure out if he should call Sam… or Bobby… or Cas even. What the hell does he do in this fucked up situation?

"Re-fucking-lax," Lizzy sternly says to him after his pacing and nervous behavior becomes too much. "I know what you're worrying does to you now. I've experienced it firsthand. You're gonna give yourself a stroke, Hot Shot. Please, sit and take you're insanity down a notch so that I can too."

Reluctantly, Dean sits on the other bed and looks over to her with an apologetic look.

"Not your fault," Lizzy tells him for the millionth time.

"Stop reading me," Dean sighs, getting annoyed with her more than usual accuracy. "Damn, I hope Sam finds this evil old hag. I'm ready to murder something and I need an excuse."

As if Sam could hear him, the door of the motel opens up.

"Hey," Sam greets in a hurry as he steps aside to let his guest in.

"Did you find the bitch?" Dean blurts out with a little too much excitement as he stands immediately, hoping his brother had.

"If by bitch you mean my grandmother, maybe." Rina steps into the room with an eyebrow cocked as she stares at Dean. "Watch your mouth."

"Guys, this is Rina," Sam introduces her to his little group before pointing to them. "The rude one is my brother Dean and that's Lizzy. She's the cursed one." He shuts the door behind them as Rina sizes them up. She narrows her eyes at each of them individually, studying them much like the old gypsy did when they had first come across her. "Rina owns the local shop I found online and the woman from the Wyoming shop is her grandmother."

"Oh good," Lizzy breath out a sigh of relief while looking at Rina. "We could really use your help."

"Hmm," she grunts quickly while dropping the burlap sack at her feet. She takes a seat next to Lizzy and holds out her hand. "Can I have you hand?"

"Sure," Lizzy says as the sides of her mouth turn up just slightly. Bold. Very bold. She likes this girl.

Rina sandwiches Lizzy's hand in both of hers and closes her eyes. "Are you sure you're the cursed one?"

"Definitely," Lizzy answers with a small, hopeful smile. "Weird things are happening around me, I can feel other people's emotions like it's nothing, and I'm starting to see things. She took a charm off my bracelet and gave it back to me without my knowing so she wasn't fucking around. Also, I can't go near Dean. When I touch him I get sucked into his emotional state… or something like that."

"Sounds cursed to me," she says with a furrowed brow and still shut eyes. "But you have a beautiful aura about you."

"Sounds right," Sam smiles, assuring Rina that she's correct.

"Oh yeah," Rina vehemently continues. "You're good through and through. You're a caregiver. Your path is a bit foggy though."

"Foggy how?" Lizzy pries.

"It's a jumble right now," she explains. "There's some good, some bad, some very scary, and it's very unclear how it will go… but I get the feeling I'm not telling you anything shocking."

"Nope," Lizzy quietly answers, the subject still a sore one.

"At least you have someone you love. And maybe love isn't even a good enough word for it." Rina lifts her lids and looks right at Lizzy. "Wow, you have completely given your life, your heart, and your soul over to another person. I'm not sure if it's very brave of you or very stupid."

"Let's just say I didn't have much of a choice in the matter," Lizzy quips as a sarcastic smile spreads quickly over her face as she thinks of what she and Dean have. "Maybe it's a little of both."

Rina looks over to Dean with a curious look, a look of contemplation, before her face changes over to the brilliant smile she gave Sam when he first came into the store. "It's you, isn't it?"

"Guilty," Dean nods.

"Lucky man," Rina informs him while she stands up and walks to him. "Now let's see how lucky she is, shall we?"

Before Dean can protest, Rina has his hand gripped in hers and her eyes are closed once more. Her face drops immediately.

"Oh brother," she mutters to herself. "You are… hmm, you're something I haven't experienced before."

"I can't tell you how many times I've heard that from women before," Dean tries to joke in the tense moment, despite knowing all the horrible things she must be seeing in him.

"So you're the funny one of the group, huh?" she smiles but keeps her eyes closed. "You're world weary. You've seen far too much and your soul is older than your age tells."

Lizzy looks to Sam with wide eyes. "She's good."

"No kidding," Sam answers with shock at the woman's accuracy.

"And you love her with everything you have in you too. Your life revolves around her… and you're seriously worried about her right now," Rina keeps explaining while looking up to him. "Heck of a match you two make."

"Damn straight." Dean smirks at Lizzy quickly, not being able to stop himself.

"But you also have some darkness around you. You have pieces of you that are tarnished or demolished even. My grandmother wouldn't like you very much either."

"Either?" Dean wonders.

"She'd hate me apparently," Sam informs his brother before looking to Rina. "Our theory was that she cursed Lizzy because of us. We were the aim."

"Well, I'd say you're completely right," Rina lets go of Dean and walks back to her burlap bag on the floor. "She'd never go near Lizzy otherwise is what I am thinking. She's done this kind of thing before."

"Cursed people?" Lizzy questions.

"Cursed people in order to open their eyes," Rina tells her. "She wants you to understand something about these two."

"But I know everything about them," Lizzy says with exhaustion. "If I knew any more, I'd have to be God himself."

"That's where you're wrong," Rina rebuts while dropping the burlap onto the table in the room and opening it. "You think you do, but there's more to them than meets the eye."

"I don't know," Sam challenges in a light tone. "She's lived with us for a long while now."

"No, no," exhausts Rina as she digs thought her bag. "She knows things like what makes you upset or happy, what makes you mad, your favorite food, where you go when upset, boxers or briefs… but there is something hanging over you both."

"We might already know more than you or your grandmother realize," Dean grimaces as he looks over to Lizzy with a pained expression.

"That you have a pretty important job ahead of you?" Rina questions with spot-on accuracy. "And she'll be the one to protect you and then have to stand by and watch as you either succeed or fail?"

The silence in the room is deafening for a few seconds.

"How did you…" Sam starts but Rina cuts him off.

"I learned from the best," she says to him while taking out several items from her bag. "My grandmother is the absolute best so I am pretty good at what I do. I can't pinpoint what exactly it is that is going to happen, but I can tell certain things." Without warning him, Rina once more takes ahold of Sam's hand. "Yeah, you're pretty involved in this too."

"They are my family and all," Sam responds with a wrinkled expression, hoping that is what she's referring to.

"Not what I mean. You're a part of whatever it is looming over them. And something is watching you… or circling you…"

"What is?"

"I don't know, but I really, really don't like the vibe I get from it." Rina lets go and warns up to him, "You better watch that cute little butt of yours. Something is hot on your tail."

Sam speechlessly watches as Rina makes her way back to the table and sets out bowls, incense and a black candle. Whether it be the warning or the compliment that shuts him up, he isn't sure.

"You have one crazy group of people here, Lizzy," Rina starts to explain over her shoulder as she works. "And I can tell that the three of you have enough on your plates as it is. You don't need this added mess. I'll take care of the curse for you, but if I do you're going to have to tread very lightly, be very careful afterwards. Something's coming and this curse won't be there to help you see it sooner."

"Thank you," Lizzy huffs, comfort running over her for the first time in days.

"But I can't do it here," Rina continues while filling a bowl with water from the bathroom sink and returning to the table. "I can try to stave it off as best I can until you come back to my shop later tonight. I can do a displacement of the curse there. You guys have salt I assume?"

"Oh yeah," Sam answers while reaching into the duffel by the motel door. "You're going to displace the curse?"

"Yes," Rina takes out a long silver chain with an amulet on it. "I can't rival Vandya's, my grandmother's, powers. She's been in the professional league for longer than I've existed. I can however take it off of Lizzy and place it onto something else."

"Not a person, though…" Lizzy worries, already having turned down the idea.

"Oh no. I'll probably use a frog or something. Unfortunately, that little guy will have to die, but no other human will have to live with this."

"Still sucks a little, but I'll take it."

"Good. Now let's get you a little protection until then," Rina winks at Lizzy as she turns back to the table in front of her. She lays the amulet down onto a red cloth with Romanian words written around the boarder of it. She grabs the candle and reaches into her pocket for her lighter, but finds she forgot one.

"Ah, here," Sam offers as he reaches into his jacket pocket for his Zippo fumbling slightly as he does. He lights it up and then lights the candle for her followed by the incense, all the while sharing a sheepish grin with her.

"Thank you," Rina smirks with a little bashfulness back before turning once more to her work. Lizzy arches an eyebrow and sends a knowing look Dean's way, though the confused look he returns with lets her know he's not picking up on what she is. He's still too concerned to notice. Lizzy shakes her head with his intensity. He's awful to himself, beating himself up over things he cannot control. This has to stop.

Reaching into the canister of salt, Rina sprinkles the amulet, the grains bouncing off the metal circle as she does.  _"_ I vor sfinti ai cu elementul de masă. _"_

She then picks up the chain and lets the amulet hang, swinging it slowly side to side through the smoke wafting off the incense. "I vor sfinti ai cu elementul de aer."

Then holding the shining medallion in the candle's fire while reciting, "I vor sfinti ai cu elementul de Foc."

Rina lays the amulet down onto the cloth again and dips her fingers into the gold bowl of water. Letting the drops drip onto the metal as she waves her fingers over it, she says, "I vor sfinti ai cu elementul Apa."

Finally, she holds the medallion high, above her head, and looks up to the ceiling above while reciting, "Acum sunteţi consfinţită în protecţia stiind cei."

The moment she finishes speaking, every drawer, door, and cupboard in the room fly open at once while a loud bang on the far wall can be heard reverberating around the room. All flinch, but Rina, not having seen any of the strange occurrences yet, jumps quite hard with the surprise.

"Ooh boy," Rina worries as she turns to look at Lizzy. "She got you good."

"No shit," Lizzy says while rubbing her hands over her face.

"Well, wear this," Rina takes a few quick strides to her and drops the amulet around Lizzy's neck. "This will help ward off the curse for a bit until I can have everything ready."

"When can you be ready?" Dean looks over to the young gypsy hopefully.

"Tonight," Rina says as she walks back to the table and starts packing up her stuff. "If I hustle now, I think I can get everything together for midnight. Be at my store a bit before that if you can."

"Uh, if you need help, I can come," Sam suggests, thinking she could use the help preparing. "Dean can stay here and make sure Lizzy's safe and I could go grab anything we need, or like, help you set up. Whatever you need…."

Dean has to roll his eyes at Sam's transparency. Holy shit this kid is still that fifteen year old who was nervous about just talking to a girl sometimes. He looks to Lizzy to share his silent sentiment but the smile on her face lets him know she adores the moment instead of being annoyed by it. What a girl she is sometimes.

"Yeah?" Rina questions, narrowed eyes staring him down as she tries to size up the new stranger with a very mysterious near future.

"Um, yeah," Sam smiles wide, before thinking he may have been too forward. "I mean, unless you… you know, don't want me getting in the way or anything."

"Oh, what the hell, right?" Rina answers him while picking up her now packed up bag. "Come on with, Mr. Mystery. I've definitely got a few jobs for you to do."

"Alright," Sam grins as she walks past him and heads out the door. Sam reaches down into his duffel by the floor again and takes out his favorite gun. As he drops it into his jeans at his back, he looks over to the other two, both seated on a bed each and looking at him with expectation. "What?" he asks with a dropped face and utter irritation in his voice. He already knows why they're looking at him in such a way.

"Nothing," Lizzy lightly says while holding back her grin. "Go help Rina. She  _needs_  you."

"Eat me," Sam says seriously as he turns to leave.

"No, eat her!" Dean happily suggests as he points out the door Rina just left through.

Sam drops his arms to his sides with frustration as his brother and his best friend laugh and joke at his expense. He turns to leave disgusted.

"Go get her, tiger!" Lizzy shouts out.

"Remember what I've taught you!" Dean loudly yells as Sam extends his middle finger to them behind his back. Once outside, door slammed in his wake, Rina gives him a questioning look.

"They like to fuck with me," Sam explains succinctly.

"You  _are_  the youngest, aren't you?" Rina shrugs as she shuts her trunk and walks to the driver's side of her car.

"No, Lizzy is," Sam rebuts immediately.

"But she doesn't count. She's a girl."

"So unfair," Sam huffs with a grin.

"Hop in," Rina nods to her passenger side.

"Wait, so  _now_  I'm allowed to be in a car with you?"

"I'm feeling better about you suddenly." Rina gets into her car and turns the key, the engine of her old 1974 Volkswagen Beetle roaring to life. Sam's spirits lift as he walks around and drops, or rather squeezes, into the passenger side. Rina giggles once he gets the door shut.

"You look ridiculous in my tiny car right now."

Sam laughs a little to himself. "Good, because I  _feel_  a little ridiculous in your tiny car right now."

"Small price to pay to try and impress the new girl though, right?"

"Ah," Sam gets out before nervously huffing out a laugh.

"Just saying, I think it's sweet that you've volunteered to help me."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. And you're earning brownie points for this."

"Nice." Sam feels his cheeks heat up ever so slightly as they drive off to prepare for the ritual.

* * *

 


	22. Silly rabbit, Curses are for Hunters

* * *

Rina parks her small car behind her store and she and Sam get out.

"So a lot of what I have to do is spell work and whatnot," she begins to explain as she unlocks the back door. "A lot of boring chanting and stuff like that."

"What can I help with?" Sam eagerly asks. For some reason he wants to help her out, and not just because she's being kind to Lizzy. It's something else.

"Well, you could run next door to get the most crucial part of this displacement ritual."

Sam just catches her grimace as she opens the door for him to head in first.

"Um, so what am I getting?" he slowly asks, worried to know after her reaction.

"We can't do a displacement without something to displace the curse onto. You need to head to Furry Friends a couple stores down." Rina grins at him, a tight lipped smile with some sadness attached to it.

Sam pauses for a second to register what she's asking of him. "You want me to go and buy a pet that we know we're gonna kill?"

" _I_  certainly don't want to do it," Rina admits as she's already walking around the backroom and gathering items. "And you  _did_  volunteer to help…"

"Shit," Sam laments with his hands on his hips. "Yeah, ok. I'll be back in a little bit." He starts walking for the front door to head over to the pet shop of doom.

"Oh!" Rina shouts after him and comes to the doorway between the front and back of the store. Sam turns back to look at her. "No, like, puppies or anything like that. Think small."

"I got this," Sam smiles back and with a deep breath he unlocks the door and heads out.

* * *

"So we need to talk," Lizzy states while grabbing the whiskey bottle off of the table once Sam and Rina are long gone.

"Awesome," Dean caustically bites as he watches her twist off the cap from his seat at the end of one of the beds. She pours some liquor into the two glasses she grabbed from the bathroom sink.

"Not awesome, but necessary," Lizzy says back as she hands him a glass, careful not to let her fingers touch his, and takes a seat on the side of the other bed. She faces Dean as he remains facing the wall instead, giving her only his profile.

"Alright, let 'er rip then," Dean says with distain. Considering she's felt hell, his missing piece, his anxiety… it could be anything that she's trying to bring up right now. He takes a big gulp in preparation.

"Hey, could you pretend for a second that you want to talk to me here?" Lizzy requests and when he turns to look at her, she smiles as warmly as she can to him. "I love you and now I'm concerned about you."

"When are you not?" Dean complains as he downs more booze and once more looks at the wall.

"Um, I'm sorry but I do believe I've always been this way. I am a talker and you've always known that…"

"I've never been one sooo…" Dean doesn't finish his remark. Just glances at her once before shrugging and looking away. His annoyance level is so high at this point with the past few days that he's in a sour enough mood without having to talk about it. This just makes it so much worse.

"Why are you shutting down on me here?" Lizzy questions with irritancy at his brushing her off. "I just want to make you better. You know that."

"Yeah, I know that," Dean quietly says while getting up to refill his glass as it's rapidly been drained. "But sometimes your ways of trying to make me a better person are fucking exhausting, L."

"I'm not trying to make you a better  _person_ , Dean. You're a great person already. I just want you to  _be_ better, to live an easier life. Right now, you hold so much in that it's hurting you."

"Nothing you can change," Dean once more shrugs off as he pours more whiskey into his glass and stays standing by the table.

"Why not?" Lizzy wonders, already feeling a huge mixed bag of emotions from him.

"Because," Dean finally looks back to her with lowered brows and a clenched jaw. "Thirty fucking years of the same shit can't be changed. I am who I am at this point, ok? I don't talk about my fucking feelings, I never have and I have good reason not to."

"Which would be?"

"They're fucked!" Dean finds himself yelling to her like he didn't want to.

Lizzy sits with wide eyes, shocked by the outburst, and Dean immediately feels bad for doing so.

"Sorry," he says with another sip as he walks back to his spot on the bed. Sitting quietly, glass rolling back and forth between his hands, he forces out a breath and does what he can. She's just trying to help after all. "I have never told anyone else more about myself and my screwed up head than I've told you. I know it isn't enough, that I still keep a whole truckload of the shit in, but… but sometime you have to trust me. What you don't know could be bad for you."

"But I know a lot now, Hot Shot," Lizzy softly informs him. "I've felt a lot of what you carry around. And more importantly, I've felt a lot of how you feel towards me. I already knew you loved me, but the way you worry, the things you put yourself through when I'm even in the least bit of danger… Dean, you're gonna kill yourself."

"The only way I'm gonna kill myself is if something happens to you," Dean admits, the heavy truth still weighing down his tongue as he tries to wash it away with some more booze. He'd never let himself realize how much he needs her until now. That was a big statement. Bigger than he was prepared for.

"Please tell me you don't mean that," Lizzy almost inaudibly asks, knowing that he really did.

Dean doesn't answer, just keeps his head low and stares into his glass.

"Hunters die all the time," Lizzy continues. "I could be gone tomorrow from a vamp, or a ghost, or anything number of things…."

"And I'd be gone the day after that." His voice is low and stern, making sure she doesn't doubt him.

"So this is your thing, huh? If you lose someone important you then lose the will to keep going?"

"I've already lost important people and I'm still here."

"Only because Cass pulled you out of the pit," Lizzy rebuts. "You lost Sam and lost the reason to live the second it happened. So if Sam or I ever die, you're just gonna give up? Is that it?"

Once more, silence.

"Is that what I should have done when you went to hell? Should I have just given up?"

"No!" Dean quickly answers, angry that she'd suggest such a thing.

"Lucky you then," Lizzy explains with fire behind her words. "I came so close…" Lizzy pauses and gives a quiet huff as she tries to tell him something so heavy. "You gone, Lou gone… if it weren't for Sam needing someone and Bobby…"

"Stop talking," Dean says with closed eyes.

"Dean, the only reason I'm still here is because you made me promise to live on," Lizzy sadly informs him. "Without that promise, I would've…"

"Knock it off!" Dean yells once more, Lizzy not flinching this time. He can't fathom the idea that she'd do something so extreme and so awful… and he's fully aware of his own hypocrisy in thinking so. "Don't say things like that to me!"

"Just listen for a second," Lizzy asks of him, her untouched whiskey now sitting on the nightstand. "I've felt what hell does to you on a daily basis. I felt the fear and anxiety you have over me getting hurt. You're constantly turned up to eleven."

Dean shakes his head as if to ignore what she says to him and keeps on drinking.

"You're gonna kill yourself before any monster or demon, or even Michael ever has the chance to." Suddenly the inability to touch him is once more making her crazy. She'd give anything to give him physical comfort as usually that's the only kind she can get him to truly accept. "The responsibility you put on yourself for two other people, two very capable people, is crushing. I get Sam, I do, but why me? No one has ever forced you into watching over me and being my protector. When did I become this young little kid you have to save all the time?"

"The day I met you," Dean mutters under his breath with some bitterness before the answer could be held back. He quickly downs the comment with more whiskey and kills his second glass.

"What?" Lizzy asks him to repeat as she didn't quite hear him.

"The day I met you," he answers louder while getting up once more to fill his glass. "That's when. The day I walked into Bobby's house and saw you sitting there on his couch I got protective over you. Why the hell do you think I forced you to get that tattoo, or, or bought you all those supplies, or gave you a fucking journal?"

"Because you liked me," Lizzy answers obviously.

"Well, yeah, but it was more than that." Dean pours an even fuller glass than the last two. "I knew I had to keep you safe and if I couldn't be near you to do it I had to do whatever I could for when I wasn't there. L, I can't explain why, but it's been my… my…"

"Job?" Lizzy questions with narrowed eyes.

"Well… yeah," Dean spits out. "I had to know you were out there, doing fine, kicking ass. I couldn't live knowing something might happen to you and I could have done something to stop it."

Lizzy sighs and presses her palms to her eyes in frustration. "You can believe that my absolute well-being is totally, one hundred percent on you all you want, even though it's not. I very clearly can't change that as I've somehow gotten some weird, convoluted, and fucked up little-sister label from you. But let's look at the flip side of this coin for a second, huh? I think it's my job to make sure you're ok… and no, I'm not sitting here thinking there's a cure-all for you, because there isn't. You'll always be a little fucked up."

Dean looks at her with stern surprise with her comment. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"I'm sorry, but aren't I being a realist here? There is no fix for anything any of us have seen. We're all fucked up in the head and we're never going to be back to default, unknowing, and normal. What I'm trying to say is that as much as you think it's your job to constantly protect me, I feel it's my job to make sure you're not killing yourself from the inside out. You need to stop."

"And how do I do that?" Dean asks, the heat in his words clear as day.

"I don't know yet," Lizzy says to him in all honesty. "But there has to be a way. You're gonna absolutely kill yourself at the rate you're going. I know life is unreal and unimaginably difficult, I'm right there with you. And to top it off you have the fucking bible itself breathing down your throat. This super mom thing you do needs to stop."

Lizzy finally takes ahold of her whiskey and downs the entire glass in a few quick gulps.

"Plus, aren't  _I_  supposed to be the one protecting  _you_?" Lizzy raises an eyebrow as she looks over to him and Dean rolls his eyes. "Hey, don't get mad at me. The angels came up with that one. All I'm asking is that you take it down a bit and relax a little. You have to. And if you don't want to because you're an immensely stubborn ass, then do it for me."

Quiet once more, Dean looks around the room while contemplating her words. She makes a good point. He feels like he hasn't let his guard down in so long. He's exhausted from this soul on out. But now is not the time to let his wall down.

"We done talking about this shit now?" Dean wonders over to her, ready to let things get a little less heavy in the room while silently agreeing to try.

"As long as you heard what I was saying, then yeah. We can be done."

"Loud and clear, captain," Dean assures her without a hint of levity.

"And you promise to never, ever quit this game early."

Dean makes a face of pure disdain for her tactics. She certainly has a way of getting what she wants out him by now. She's got him wrapped around her finger… and he hates it.

"Yeah," Dean grumbles, looking away from her with absolute dislike.

"Good," Lizzy responds, only taking half comfort in his answer. She still feels he'll be the same old Dean he's always been. She'll keep trying though. She'll never give up.

"How much time do we have to kill?" Dean asks her while walking to her and pouring her more whiskey.

"Few hours," Lizzy sighs.

"Fucking sucks."

Dean gets comfortable on the bed Lizzy isn't on and Lizzy follows suit. They each sit against their respective headboards, practically mirroring the other's position; ankles crossed, drink in lap. He takes up the remote and starts flipping through the channels.

"I miss the days when we could kill time by having some good old fashioned sex," Dean remarks, fire still hidden behind his words, while casually sipping his drink and thinking about what a wasted opportunity they have right in front of them because of this curse. Plus he's so frustrated right now, with her specifically, he's love to take that out on her.

"You mean like two days ago?" Lizzy asks in a half laugh.

"Absolutely."

"But honestly, when have we ever had any kind of old fashioned sex?"

"Never, but I'd take it right now if I could get it."

"Yeah, me too…" Lizzy's voice thoughtfully dawdles off. "But you wouldn't want that right now if you had the choice."

"Nope."

"You'd go the angry sex route," Lizzy explains obviously. "You  _are_  still kinda mad at me for bringing up the whole conversation after all."

"Yeah, you'd be in trouble alright." Dean once more plays it cool, though on the inside the thought of taking his anger out on the source of his anger in such a way would really help him out. Thankfully Lizzy was always down for whatever he'd want to do with her.

"Oh yeah," Lizzy, also pulling the aloof card, returns. "I'd probably deserve it too. A little hair pulling, rip my panties, maybe leave a nice handprint on my ass just to teach me a lesson."

"Christo."

"Fuck you," Lizzy laughs with guilt.

"You're evil, you know that? Can't fuck you and these are the things you're gonna say to me?"

"Yeah, I know," Lizzy sighs. "It's kinda fun though."

"Still evil." Dean pauses for a moment, the mental images now running in his head of what he'd kill to do to her right now. "Hey, uh, do you think that amulet would protect you enough for… that?" Dean questions over to her, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

"I don't know," Lizzy answers with a flicker of hope. "You willing to give it a try?"

"I am if you are."

They stare at each other for a moment before both move quickly to the edge of their own beds , dropping their drinks on the nightstand, and sit across the gap between the mattresses from each other, less than a foot separating them.

"You sure?" Dean checks one more time as he holds his hand out, palm up.

Not answering, Lizzy reaches out and take his hand in hers. The room disappears just like she had hoped it wouldn't. This go around was yet again something new. This time it was his lust for her. She can feel her skin flash hot with want, her breathing pick up with need, that heated charge running through her core. Contact, she needs contact with him so badly it hurt. She's suddenly desperate to feel the touch of him, his hands on her skin, his mouth on hers, his…

"Guess not," Dean disappointedly says as the world returns and Lizzy is left near panting while sitting where she'd been.

"Holy shit," Lizzy huffs a large breath, her cheeks flushed and her hand running over her hair. She thought she was worked up after leaving that diner in Wyoming. That was nothing.

"What this time?" Dean wonders while getting back onto his bed right where he'd been before they tested their theory out. They've been through this four times before. Now it's just old hat.

"Oh fuck," Lizzy says breathily as she grips tight to the edge of the mattress at her sides and her heart races. "Ah crap. So shouldn't have done that."

"What was it?" Dean questions again once he gets a look at the shape she's in.

"I… I can't… be in this room," Lizzy tells him as she gets up from her spot and heads for the door.

"So dramatic," he huffs with her reaction, quickly understanding that she felt his physical need for her that time around.

"Dude! If I stay I swear I will fucking pounce on you." Lizzy fans her face with her hand.

"So… stay. Just do a repeat of last time you got this bad. I promise I won't mind." Large grin in place, he can only hope this suggestion sticks.

"It's different," Lizzy says. "It's so much worse." The panic sets in as the longer she stays in his presence the closer she gravitates towards him subconsciously. It's only a matter of time before she just jumps him.

"Get back on your bed, ok?" Dean smiles to her, his eyes suddenly alit fiendishly.

"Dean, I have to go." She really needs to leave… now!

"Trust me here. Hop on and settle in."

Staring at him for a quick second, contemplating his request, she decides to trust him as always with the hopes that he'd have an answer. She climbs back onto the bed and does all she can to calm her desires down.

Dean decides to get creative himself this time, reaching into his duffel and grabbing his leather gloves.

"I figure," he starts while slipping the protective measure on. "If I pop these babies on, I can still touch you, right?"

"Right," Lizzy grins back to him as he bends down and does something she can't see.

"So as I see it, we still have some options." He stands tall and with a smirk he holds out her vibrator for her to see. She breathes out in relief, feeling more than excited to have a way to connect with him the best way she knows how even with the cursed restrictions in place.

"Holy shit, I love you," Lizzy says with all seriousness and absolute desperate need. "Now get your ass over here and help me… please."

* * *

"Help me move this over?" Rina asks of Sam as she grabs one end of a display containing incense and many books of spell work.

"Sure," Sam agrees and grabs the opposite side, moving the piece close to the wall in order to clear out a large space in the middle of the room.

"Perfect," Rina says once it's out of the way. "Can you move that table to the center of the room for me?" Before getting an answer she disappears to the back room.

"No problem," Sam says mostly to himself as pulls the heavier-than-it-looks furniture over to where she wanted it. When she accepted his help, boy did she ever. He's been working his tail off picking up items and innocent animals, moving furniture, and just generally getting his hands dirty. However, in this time he's also learned a lot about her. He now knows that her favorite color is yellow, she loves to go to yoga every Sunday morning, she has a dog named Rui, she always pushes her hair behind her right ear when nervous or put on the spot, and her laugh is infectious. It's light, airy, and from the heart. Sam's had more fun helping her do the grunt work for a gypsy ritual than he's had in a very long time doing anything else.

When Rina returns once Sam has set out four chairs around the table, she drops an armful of items onto the store's counter and begins sorting through them.

"We're almost ready I think," she smiles warmly over to him. "Just have to set up the table and I think we're good. This went way faster with some help. Thanks Sam."

"Anytime," Sam grins as she shakes out a pitch black table cloth and lifts it in the air above the large, round table. Together they set it out, centering it and smoothing out the wrinkles.

"Take a load off," Rina says to Sam and points to one of the chairs. "I have a couple things to set out still but you've done enough."

"I really don't mind."

"I'm sure you don't," Rina laughs a little at his comment. "But I do so sit down for a second."

Sam does so and watches her move around the room, placing candles strategically and setting out herbs and other implements.

"So are you like most of the other urmaritor a raului and you just live out of your car?" Rina wonders aloud as she walks around the store.

"Uh, pretty much," Sam responds with a suspicious expression. "I take it you see a lot of my kind around here?"

"A lot more than you'd think, but it makes sense. Quite often, I have what many of you need very badly."

Sam pauses with her remark. "Is that comment like a trap or something?" he asks with a wide grin.

"A trap? How?" Her tone lets him know she meant the double entendre fully.

"I think you know how."

"Well, take it however you want, but I am very certain that I have what you in particular need. And no, I'm not talking about the curse displacement."

Sam clears his throat and shifts uncomfortably in his chair with her surprisingly forward statement as Rina continues on.

"Sorry if that seemed a bit bold of me, but I think when this is all said and done, you and I need to spend a little time together." She looks him square in the eye and Sam begins to think there's more to her statement than she's letting on.

Just then there's a knock on the front door of the shop and Dean can be seen peering through the glass.

"I got it," Sam tells Rina as she continues to set up. Unlocking the door with a click, he pushes it open to let the other two hunters in.

"Dude, this place is nice," Dean announces as he walks in, looking around with discovering eyes.

"Better than the last one," Lizzy mutters as she steps through the door, elbowing Sam as she goes. "She's fucking hot. I hope you laid some good ground work, Sam-I-Am."

"Fuck you very much, Lizzy," Sam whispers back with her obviousness as he shuts and locks the door behind them.

"So what do we need to do?" Dean asks, rubbing his hands together and ready to get the show on the road.

"You relax and wait while I make sure everything is good." Rina smiles over to Lizzy. "Then I'll explain everything and at midnight, we'll do our thing."

"Good, because I am about ready to fuck this curse right in its ass!"

As she says it, the lights flicker in the store as if to remind her of how powerful the curse itself is. However, all four people in the store are used to the curse and its effects by now and they just shrug it off.

"Did I mention what a proper lady my friend Lizzy is?" Sam somewhat apologizes for Lizzy's unladylike vocabulary.

"Blow me, Sam," Lizzy rebuts quickly. "Rina can handle it."

Rina just laughs off the moment and starts getting things together when Dean notices the white box with holes in it move a little on the counter.

"This our unlucky little friend?" he asks while walking over and lifting the lid.

"Yeah, that's it," Sam nervously answers, hoping his brother keeps the animal inside the box.

"Oh, really!?" Dean complains with a bit of pity in his tone and lifts the pure white, fuzzy bunny with pink eyes out of its cardboard home. "We gotta off this little guy?"

"Aww, no!" Lizzy laments, walking swiftly over toward the adorable animal. Sam rushes over and runs interference, standing between Lizzy and the animal in Dean's hold. She looks up to him with a sad face. "Why did you get something cute, Sam!?"

"Because it was the  _Fuzzy Friends_  pet store."

"What a pansy name," Dean huffs to the bunny laying comfortably in his arm while petting it.

"They didn't have anything but fuzzy animals," Sam explains to her. "I asked for something scaly or a tarantula or something but they don't do those. So it was puppy, kitten, or rabbit."

"Shit, as if I didn't feel bad enough already," Lizzy sadly says while reaching around Sam to pet the doomed animal.

"No way," Sam stops her again.

"Why?"

"You get attached to that thing, you will so not go through with what we have to do to it."

Lizzy sighs like a child as she knows he's right and walks away, taking a seat at the table as her heartstrings get pulled for the helpless little thing.

"Ah, don't feel bad buddy," Dean begins to quietly talk to a bunny again. "You're going to a better place. Nothing but carrots and other hot bunnies running around looking for a good time."

"Dean, are you seriously talking to the little bunny rabbit we're about to slaughter?" Sam asks in a mocking tone.

"The poor dude is terrified. I can at least try to comfort him before he goes to that great bunny ranch in the sky."

"Wow," Rina says while looking up from the table at the three of them. She laughs as the hunters peer at her with confusion, not seeing their banter as anything but normal for who they are. "Guess this is all just too every day for you."

"It is," Sam answers.

"So, I'm about ready to go over all this if you are."

"Alright, Esmeralda" Dean happily joins the table, bunny still in hand. "Tell us what to do."

* * *

 


	23. I Took a Spell Off You

* * *

With the incense and herbs smoldering, filling the air with smoke, the three hunters sit around the table and watch Rina intently as she stands over a large gold bowl. She has her eyes closed with her head bowed and she's speaking quietly in Romanian.

"Acest blestemat sufletul, acest nevinovat inima, burarea de sarcina pe care acum poartă. Intreb ca puteri superioare fie pe partea ei prin ei timp de nevoie."

She then lights the four black candles one at a time with Sam's borrowed lighter surrounding the bowl containing the smoking herbs.

"Persoana de virtute este liber. Lăsaţi fortele intunecate intra in lumina." Taking up a vile of something the hunters don't recognize, she pulls open the top and pours it into the bowl, the dark liquid making the small flame flare up momentarily.

"Now for the not so great part," Rina says to Lizzy as she holds out her hand.

Lizzy places her hand, palm up, into Rina's. Picking up the silver dagger carved with old world Romanian symbols, she drags the blade across Lizzy's palm, slicing into her skin. Rina balls up Lizzy's hand and holds it over the bowl, drops of blood falling onto its contents.

"Ea cade sângele ei în spectacol de încredere, în spectacol de disperare, în spectacol de credinţă că veţi ajuta. Ia-o povară şi mutaţi-o spre un alt nefericit suflet." Rina pours salted water into the bowl to extinguish the flames before instructing Lizzy further. "Stir it with your hand."

Lizzy does so, the mixture becoming an odd, dark soup in the process.

"Almost done," Rina tells her with a half-smile. "You just have to touch the rabbit's head with the potion on your hand and the curse will move off of you and right onto it."

Removing her hand from the bowl, Lizzy swallows hard as she looks over to the innocent looking bunny, the animal Dean has still yet to put down. Through his stoic face she can feel his sorrow over what they are going to do to it. How the hell her tough and usually too manly guy just became a softy for a fucking little bunny rabbit she doesn't quite get.

Reaching across the table, Lizzy's hand makes it nearly to the small animal when the front door of the store flies open, cracking the glass.

"Ecaterina! Să nu îndrăzneşti!"

The room of people all whip their heads to look at the source of the command. Standing by the doorway, as hunched over and wrinkled as ever, is the old gypsy from Wyoming. She has her cloudy eyes trained on Rina as well as an index finger shakily pointed her way.

"Bunica," Rina sighs out with stubborn frustration and some fear. "What are you doing here?"

"I knew they were here!" the old woman returns before coughing explosively into a new handkerchief. "I knew they would come! Why do you help them?"

"They deserve it!" Rina shouts to her kin. "They are good people. Urmaritor a raului. They help people…."

"They need to help themselves!" The woman takes a step forward towards the table and looks to Lizzy, her eyes wild and angry. "Prost fata! You need to know!"

"Then just tell me what it is I need to know so badly because I can't live like this," Lizzy pleads to the old gypsy. In a flash, the old woman is standing over Lizzy's seated form with a wrinkled hand harshly gripping her chin.

"Whoa!" Dean shouts out with the assault but Rina holds onto his shoulder and keeps him back. She knows her grandmother won't hurt Lizzy.

"You stupid girl," she growls in her thick accept to Lizzy, her eyes a bright blue. "You have no  _idea_  who you surround yourself with."

Scared of the woman, Lizzy sits silently as Rina marches over to them.

"Don't try to intimidate her!" she scolds while grabbing her grandmother's wrist and making her let go of Lizzy's face. "What is wrong with you!?"

The hunters are all tensed up as the watch they ensuing fight, getting the feeling that this was a common family conflict for the two of them and they are well aware that a family fight should stay within the family. That and the look the old woman is giving Rina is one of utter hatred. It's terrifying.

"Break it," Rina demands. "Break the curse right now before I end it for you."

"No. It stays." She swipes her hand violently through the air to show how serious she is.

"Then I'll take care of this myself." Rina stands next to Lizzy.

"Nu te pot lăsa să faci ca. You will not, young one!"

With the refusal to let Rina do the transferal, the old gypsy rushes towards her granddaughter with unnaturally fast speed. Before she can reach her, Rina thinks fast and grabs Lizzy's wrist, pressing her dark mixture-covered fingers to her own forehead.

"Puneţi acest blestem pe un altul şi lăsaţi sarcina fie mutat!" The second the words leave Rina's lips the room is filled with a mysterious wind while the lights flicker and the table shakes.

"What have you done!?" the elder gypsy yells through the commotion.

As soon as it starts, the disturbance abruptly stops, making the calm in the large room feel wrong and eerie.

"Rina! No!" Sam shouts with panic when he realizes that she's taken the curse onto herself.

"Holy shit," Lizzy breathes out as she takes her hand sharply off of Rina's now darkly stained forehead. "Rina, why…"

"Ce ai facut!?" the old woman shouts angrily at Rina from where she had been stopped in her tracks. "Why would you do that, Ecaterina!?"

"Because now you  _have_  to end it," Rina angrily bites back. "You can't keep running around and dooming people like this! It isn't your place, bunica! These people don't deserve this!"

"I always do what must be done!" her grandmother shouts right back. "I always have good reason and never more than in this case!"

"Well now you have good reason to end it for good," Rina spits back, her eyes dark and angry. "I am so tired of cleaning up after you. Now you have to clean up after yourself for once or else your granddaughter will stay cursed." Rina stops for a second blows out a heavy breath. "Ok, other people in this room, relax please. I have this curse now and feeling your fear isn't making this easier."

The three hunters all breathe deeply and try to bring their emotions down, Lizzy especially. She knows how difficult it is to have this burden on her and she'd never wish it on anyone else.

"Any time now, bunica." Rina stares her kin down, as if challenging her even though she knows she's won this one.

"Nesabuita," the old gypsy complains as she shuffles to stand in front of Rina, looking up at her from her lower height. "You will see how wrong you are for this, young one."

With her hand on Rina's head, the gypsy starts speaking in her native tongue with her eyes closed. When she is done, the room remains calm and the air suddenly feels much less heavy than before.

"You've made a mistake, nepoata ei," the old woman warns as she turns around and slowly walks towards the front door again. "You will see. When this world burns, you will see." She turns back to look solely at Lizzy with her now piercing blue eyes. "I tried to help you. You must remember all I told you." The sadness that suddenly coats the old woman's face takes Lizzy off guard. "I fear so much for you now."

The door closes behind her and the four people inside remain quiet for a moment, trying to register all the just happened.

* * *

"At least it's over," Rina tells them as she walks behind the store's counter for a rag once her grandmother is gone.

"Are you sure?" Dean wonders, highly nervous with the way the elder gypsy left.

"Definitely, I can promise you that."

"Thank you… so much," Lizzy says slowly while standing up from her chair. She can already tell it worked as she can only slightly feel Dean's emotional state and no one else's in the room. A lightness sweeps over her as the burden, the weight that has been on her is now gone.

"Yeah, well, I'm used to fixing the multitude of issues she causes. It's nothing new… guh." Rina is cut off by Lizzy when she hugs her in tight, once more thanking her for what she's done. She's trapped in the constricting embrace as Lizzy takes the moment to let out her gratefulness.

"Sorry," Lizzy apologizes the second she backs off, knowing she had squeezed a little too tight. "I'm just so happy. I feel so good. I feel like I'm free finally."

"I can tell," Rina laughs back as she wipes the dark mixture off of her forehead. "And I have to say, you're one tough woman for having to deal with that curse. I had it for only a couple minutes and it was no picnic."

"No shit!" Lizzy answers with wide eyes, glad someone understands how tough it's been for her.

"So… you're good then?" Dean asks, standing up and placing the bunny back into the box it came in. "No more weirdo emotional empathy shit?"

"I don't think so," Lizzy smiles to him.

"You sure?"

"Come here and I'll tell you."

Dean happily walks over to her as she tests the waters, cupping his face and pulling him down to kiss her. As her lips move deliberately over his, she practically hums into his mouth with the ability to feel him physically again without having to get shoved into his emotional mess.

"Oh yeah," Lizzy quietly sighs while slowly opening her eyes to look into his, her lips still touching his. "I'm back, baby."

As Dean grins in return, he moves in to kiss her again almost immediately. Sam stands from his spot at the table to join Rina and avoid the display if he can.

"Thank you," Sam says to her once he's standing on the opposite side of the counter from her. He takes the small towel out of her hand and begins to wipe away the spots on her hairline that she missed without second thought. "Lizzy was going crazy with that curse. You really saved her and that means the world to me… Dean too… as you can probably tell."

Rina glances over at the couple making out in the middle of her store and smiles affectionately.

"That right there, that's love. And I mean real love. I felt it coming from them. I may not seem like one, but I'm a little bit of a romantic at heart so that," Rina points to them. "Is worth pissing off my grandmother for."

Sam just quietly laughs to himself while getting the last of the dark potion off of Rina's skin.

"Um, here," Sam hands the cloth back to Rina once she's clean and she takes it while smiling up to him.

"And they say chivalry is dead." She winks to him once before walking back around the front of the counter.

"Let's get outta here," Dean whispers to Lizzy once he finds a way to take his lips off of hers and she nods immediately while biting her lower lip in excitement to be back to normal. Lizzy turns away from him to say her goodbyes and hopefully get back to their motel as soon as possible.

"Rina, again…"

"Save it," Rina holds out her palm to stop her. "I told you, I've been cleaning up after that woman since I was just a kid. I'm glad I could help."

Lizzy simply grins back, her hand absentmindedly grabbing Deans, holding on to it now that she can again. Damn that felt good.

"You look like you could use some time to, let's say, adjust to being back to normal," Rina smiles, looking over the body language Lizzy and Dean are showing. She knows what's up with them. "Why don't Sam and I clean this place up and you guys go reacquaint yourselves." She laughs with her own statement.

"You're good," Lizzy grins with Rina's correct guess. "And I will be taking that offer. Have fun picking up."

With that, Lizzy is practically pulling Dean by the arm out the front door.

"Thanks!" Dean calls over his shoulder before he's yanked outside.

"They always like that?" Rina wonders to Sam as she starts picking up the items around the table.

"Worse usually," Sam admits with a smile. As much as he hates how rabbit-like the two of them can be sometimes, he'd gladly take that over Lizzy's suffering. Maybe that's why Dean loved that bunny so much. He is one.

"I'm so sorry for you," Rina laughs lightly, the laugh that Sam's been appreciating since he's gotten to know her through the day.

"Eh, you get used to it."

"That's even worse!" Rina laughs a little harder as the front door opens once more.

"Forgot something!" Dean announces as he rushes in. He heads straight for the white pet store box and picks it up.

"What are you doing, Dean?" Sam says in an almost tired voice, never knowing what his brother is up to.

"No offence to you," Dean looks to Rina. "But I'm taking Edgar outta this slaughter house."

"You named it?" Sam complains with a disappointed voice.

"Of course I named him. He's awesome."

"Edgar?"

"Yeah," Dean says obviously. When Sam looks at him for an explanation his older brother rolls his eyes. "Edgar Winter. The damn thing  _is_  albino."

"You're a freak."

"And you're a bitch. Thanks again, Rina. See you tomorrow, Sammy!" Dean rushes right back out the door with his new pet in hand and leaves Rina smiling wide.

"He makes assumptions like that often, huh?" Rina asks as Dean quite easily expected Sam to stay with her for the night.

"Oh he's an ass alright," Sam laughs right back. "And you're right by the way. It does suck being around to two of them sometimes, but you know… Dean's happy. He's actually happy. In our line of work that's damn near impossible so I can't find a good reason to not look on the bright side of it all."

"See," Rina grins to him in between blowing out candles. "You are a good person. Most people would be jealous or spiteful."

"I was for a while," Sam tells her truthfully, picking up some of the items from the table also and bringing them out back, Rina following him. "And it wasn't healthy, I can promise you that." Boy was it not. He ended wanting Lizzy for himself. Not good at all.

"I'm glad you could find such a good place to be within your situation. Takes a very strong person to be able to do that."

Sam takes the compliment with a proud smile, even if it's still an issue he's continually working on.

"Um, I need you to do something for me," Rina hesitantly tells him.

"Something more!?" Sam jokingly feigns annoyance.

"Yes," Rina giggles while swatting his shoulder. "I need you to let me do a reading on you."

"No."

"Please?"

"No. That's how this all got started. I'm done with all psychic readings of any kind."

"But I promise it'll be worth it." Rina tries again, giving him her best pleading look. "I know what I am doing and I think there are some things you need to see."

Sam gives her a narrow-eyed, questioning look and Rina puts her hands on her hips. Her raised eyebrows and smirk let him know she's expecting a yes and in the moment he can't find it in him to say no.

"Yeah, sure," Sam gives in. "What do I have to lose right?"

"Not a thing," Rina assures him as she continues to clean up. "We'll head to my place after we're done here."

"You're place?" Sam asks with surprise. "We aren't gonna do that here?"

"No way. My place is… cozier."

"Well then who am I to argue?"

Somewhere in the back of his mind he can hear Dean cheering him on. Atta boy, Sammy! Hey, my geeky little brother actually grew some balls! Go get her, dude! She's hot!

When is that ever going to stop?

* * *

 


	24. Death, a Cup, the Devil, and the Sun

* * *

"Home sweet home," Rina announces as she opens the door to her apartment. Sam follows her in and immediately gets greeted by a very happy dog.

"Hey!" Sam says with a wide grin as he crouches to the floor and begins petting the medium sized mutt with a very cute, brown and white face. "Hi, Rui!"

Rina stands still for a second and watches. "You know, dogs can sense evil and he seems to like you. That's a good sign I think."

"Good, because I like him too." Sam continues to pets the dog as Rina watches. How could this guy be trouble, she has to wonder. He's just too kind for that to be true.

"Alright, Rui," Rina finally calls to the animal. "Bedroom, huh? Come on!"

As she walks down the hall, Rui following her, she puts him in her bedroom to give them some time alone while Sam looks around the apartment.

"Very unique," Sam comments as he sees the tapestries on the walls, the many dark and inviting colors used throughout, and even though its small and a bit cluttered, the place feels warm and like a real home.

"I hope that's a good kind of unique," she yells out to him before heading back down the short hallway.

"It is."

"Good," Rina smiles as she tossed her purse onto the couch and takes a seat on a large floor pillow sitting on one side of the coffee table in the middle of her living room. "Have a seat." She points to the pillow on the opposite side of her table and Sam does as she asks.

Rina pulls a lighter out of her pocket and lights a few of the random candles on the small table, just barely illuminating the dark living room around them. She then realizes that the item in her hand doesn't belong to her.

"Oh, um, I must have kept this by accident back at the shop," Rina tells him with the Zippo now held out to him in the palm of her hand. "Sorry about that."

"Nah. Keep it," Sam smiles. "Seems like you could use one. Plus, we have more than a few lying around."

Taken aback, Rina slowly closes her hand around the shiny and nicked silver lighter that's seen better days before taking it back. She places it gently on the coffee table right in front of her before looking back across to him. "You're very sweet."

"Just trying to be nice since you've been so nice to us."

"And you're being modest. You would have given that lighter to me anyways."

Sam nods, knowing she's right.

"Here," she hands over the deck of tarot cards that were stacked on the table. "Shuffle up and I'll deal."

Sam does as he's been asked, mixing up the deck and mentally preparing himself. She's been great and she's earned his trust, so he tries to stow his worries. He hands the cards back over when done.

"Now let's take a look at why my grandmother was so, let's say, fascinated by you," Rina winks to him, trying to put Sam at ease when she knows this reading can't go easily for him. That aura is pretty dark, even if she's sure he's a good person. Something is up with him.

"Ok, first up –love," Rina says as she flips the first card and places it in front of herself.

"Yeah, that can't be good," Sam remarks when the first card dealt is the death card.

"It isn't," she concurs. "You've experienced loss in the part of your life that concerns love."

"More than you could ever know," Sam answers back with difficulty and swallows hard.

"It's more than one?" Rina pries, getting a feeling from him. "Women that you've lost?"

"Yes," Sam quietly responds without looking up. The card just lies on the table, taunting him silently. The unnerving sense he gets from its presence is hard to handle as he thinks over all he's lost in love. Jessica, Madison, Lou….

"I thought so," she tells him while reaching across the table to place her hand on top of his and closes her eyes. "What is the name of the last woman you lost?"

"Why?"

"She was very important,  _very_  connected to you," Rina adds, her voice sincere. "Not just a love, but a good friend."

"Her name was Lou," Sam says quietly, recalling the woman with much veneration.

"You loved her deeply," Rina speaks what she gets from him. "I am sorry for your loss, Sam. I know how much it hurts you still. But don't give up on love. Not yet."

"Why do you say that?" Sam wonders, always having figured life would never allow him the luxury of having love again. Three strikes and you're out, right?

"You're time will come, I can feel it. Just trust me on this." Rina grins sadly to him as she flips the next card in the deck. "Money." She places it up and to the left of the first one. She immediately laughs. "Guess I won't be getting paid for my reading services today," she says while pointing to the card. "Nine of cups, upside down. You are so poor you couldn't buy a clue right now."

"Sounds like my whole life," Sam quips from his seat. "You're very good at this."

"Thanks," Rina giggles again and keeps going. "Moving on to health and happiness."

"This'll be good," Sam mumbles with much sarcasm.

She overturns the card and places it in front of Sam.

"The devil," Rina says with a troubled look.

"Shit, what does that mean?" Sam needs to know as the expression on Rina's face shows how bad this card is. And could it be just a coincidence that he lets Lucifer out of his cage and this is the card he gets? No way.

"Um, well," Rina sighs as she tries to interpret the card. "Usually it means a time of control loss and big excess, but I'm getting something different from it than I usually do. I feel… heavy. And really strong sorrow. And control loss is still in there too. Wow, this is… I just don't know."

"That's not very comforting," Sam tells her.

"Just speaking what I'm seeing." She looks up at him with troubled eyes. "Sam, something gonna happen. It's big and it's bad."

"Um, I don't know if this will help, but we've been aware of something big coming in the very near future for some time now," Sam tries to explain without saying too much. "It's going to get pretty ugly, especially for Dean…"

"And you."

"Well, I'm gonna be by his side the whole time…"

"No." Rina say it sternly and Sam closes his mouth and looks at her with worry. "You are equally involved in whatever is coming, I  _know_  that."

Taking a second to register what she's tells him, Sam sits with his palms pressed to the coffee table surface as he just bores holes into the devil's face on the card with his eyes. What the fuck is going on? Is Lucifer coming for him? Is he on the big bad's hit list after letting him out?

"You're strong," Rina tells him, her hand covering over one of his again but this time not to read him. It's to comfort him. "Whatever it is you will do what you have to. And you have a hell of a support system in your brother and friend."

Sam nods as his nerves take him.

"Whatever happens, I think you will do what you feel is right to do and everything will work out how it should."

Sam snaps his head up and looks her straight in the eyes with shock. She nearly says word for word what Lou's ring had inscribed in it. It's like Lou had said it to him herself. How did she know about that? Does she know that what she just said was Lou's life motto? His heart races with hearing it.

"Last card?" she questions him, making sure he's ready to move on. Sam nods and waits for more gloom and disappointment to come his way. When it's flipped, however, he's shocked to see a bright yellow face smiling up at him.

"Wow, you are one mixed bag there Sam," Rina says with shock.

"So this is a good thing?"

"Very good, yes. The sun represents a new day, a new life, happiness, light, success…." Rina makes a troubled face. "I can't remember the last time I had such a hard time figuring out what a card means."

"Don't they always have the same meaning?"

"The same basic meanings, but this one has me confused…" Rina sighs. "It's telling me that you will find some kind of happiness, but I'm not understanding how or when or in what aspect of life."

Sam leans back away from the table instinctively. Happiness? That can't be right.

"Maybe it would help to know when the last time you were happy was," Rina looks at his weathered face, a face that to her reveals so much of what he's experienced. "When was the last time you smiled and really meant it? A smile that came from deep within you?"

Mulling it over, it takes a second to realize when it was. He remembers a few months ago when he was deep into some research on a hunt with Dean and Lizzy. She left the library to get them coffee and when she returned she placed each drink in front of them according to how well she knew them; medium black coffee for Dean and a large latte with skim milk for him. She then sat across from Dean at their table for four with her own drink at the opened book she'd been reading through and before she dove back in she pulled a paper bag out of her large purse. Taking out the chocolate glazed donut from it, the kind she knows is Dean's favorite, she put it on a napkin and silently slid it across the table to him. Looking up at her from his lore book, Dean took in her genuine smile as she knew how much he'd love that little, tiny surprise. He huffed a laugh to himself and without a word he broke the donut into two halves, sliding one of the halves back to her to share. Now, Dean has never been one to share food. Food is one of the most important things in his life, just under his family, his car, and his music. He's never once offered Sam a single bit of anything he'd been eating, maybe because he knew Sam would never want whatever it was Dean was about to wolf down, but still. To Sam the gesture was much bigger than he thinks either of them recognized. Both grinning like children, they take a bit of their own halves while heading right back into their research. Sam remembers being overwhelmed by the moment, hiding his wide smile behind his hair as he looked back down to his own work in front of him.

"Few months back," Sam says, feeling the pull on the muscles around his mouth as they threaten to turn up into a smile once more with the memory. "I saw my brother actually share his food with Lizzy."

Rina give a skeptical look. " _That's_  when you were happy last? When you brother forked over a bite of food?"

"No," Sam grin. "Ah, Dean never shares his food… ever and he gave Lizzy half his donut."

"Uh-huh," she slowly nods, clearly not getting it.

"Ok, so, the gesture itself was kinda small, I get that," Sam tries to make clearer. "But… the two of them had a really rough patch recently and Lizzy wasn't with us for some time. When this happened Dean was a mess every day and Lizzy was miserable, but they had to do it to get past the tough time they were having. She came back with us about a month later and, I don't know, that moment with the donut made me realize that they were ok. They were gonna be fine, or better than fine really. He just loves her so damn much that it makes me… well, happy. I'm happy when he's happy. Always been that way."

"You sure you don't just wanna move here?" Rina jokes suddenly. "Guys like you don't really exist. You'd be nice to have around."

"Duty calls," Sam huffs with a grin.

"What about the last time  _you_ were happy, and not because of something that makes your brother happy. I mean just you?"

"Uh, shit. It's been so long…"

Sam closes his eyes and thinks hard. Through his busy and cluttered mind he gets to it.

"Lou," he says simply.

"When you were with her?" Rina looks with sympathetic eyes to

him as he nods his answer.

"I saw her a few days after Christmas almost two years ago now," Sam spills. "We hung out in the car for a few hours and…"

"You fell for her," Rina informs him. "I can see all over you."

"Yeah, I guess I did," Sam agrees. "Never really pinpointed when it happened, but I think you're right."

"I am right. And even though you very clearly had strong connections to the others, I think she's the one you think about the most."

"She's never left me. She's still just kinda… stuck there. I've tried, I try to make it better, but no matter what I just want her back…" Sam stops when the lump in his throat makes him stop. Shaking his head he looks down into his Indian-styled lap and blinks away the tears that threaten him. "Miss her so much."

While looking downward, Sam didn't see when Rina stood up and walked to him from the other side of the coffee table. Sitting into his lap, straddling him, she lifts his head so that he can look at her.

"Sam, I know it hurts. I know. But I feel like you're not moving on at all."

"Can't." It comes out as a whisper as he fights to keep his sorrow in check.

"But you have to," Rina gently tells him, lacing her fingers into each of his hands. "This is hurting you so much, it's keeping you from living a life. You're a good guy. You deserve to not live with this burden."

Sam continues to look away, fighting to keep his composure. He knows what she says is true, and he's been working so hard to move past the loss, but he just can't find the strength to do so.

"All I am trying to make you understand is that I can see in you the loss and pain you carry. Could see it in you all day. There's more for you Sam. A lot more. And I know you're going to find something good someday, something that will make you happy again. Better yet, someone. Be good to yourself until then. Let a few others in and they might be able to help you move on."

Bringing his focus onto her dark eyes, Sam finds solace in her words and in what she's trying to do for him. She's so kind, so caring. She's exactly what he needs in his life at this very point. He didn't need a Lizzy of his own. He needed to move on and stop mourning, at least a little, and Rina is somehow giving him the permission to do so. That's what he's been waiting for, someone to tell him it's ok to let Lou go, even if it's just a little. He knows he'll never lose her completely and he'd never want to, but moving past it all is what he needs to do.

Sam leans in and kisses Rina, his way of hopefully making it ok for himself to feel something for someone not Lou, someone not like her in the least.

* * *

“Oh God, Dean!  Yes!  Yes!  Fuck!” Lizzy voice calls out loudly as she finds the release she’s needed for days in exactly the way she’s needed it.  Her hands grab hard onto his shoulders as Dean clutches to her ass, following suit and reaching his own end. 

Smiling up at her, Dean runs his hands over her naked body, taking in her skin and all the comfort it give him as they both take a minute to catch their breath and bask in the afterglow of some seriously good sex.

“Oh my God!  That was so fucking good!” Lizzy cheers while still sitting atop his hips.

“So good,” he huffs out in complete agreement through large breaths.

“Wow, did I need that,” she continues as she climbs off of Dean’s lying form and sits back onto the mattress beside him, her legs draped across his stomach.  She’s a sweaty mess after that much needed round and she peels her matted bangs off her forehead with her still shaking with exertion hand.  “That was amazing.”

“Life just seems better now, doesn’t it?” Dean grins over to her, his hands automatically running along her legs as he watches her relaxed expression get calmer by the second.  He can’t stop touching her.  He never realized how physical they really were until it was taken away.  Now he never wants to be without some part of him touching some part of her.

“So much better.  I swear there is nothing in this world that a good fucking can’t erase.”

“Here-here,” he agrees with her as he holds up his hand.  Giving him a high five, she smiles down at him.

“And damn, do I love a good orgasm.”

“Or two,” Dean cockily lifts his eyebrows for a split second and smirks at her.

“Yes, or two you egotist.”  Lizzy breaths in through her nose and out though her mouth one more time with her newly found calm.  “It’s crazy to think that just a couple hours ago I was terrified to even high five you.”

“So glad that’s behind us.”

Lizzy laughs as she gets off the bed. "And I'm just glad I can now  _have_  you behind me again!" She grins seductively at him before grabbing a stray hair elastic off of the nightstand. She begins pulling her hair into a ponytail as she moves for the bathroom.

"Yeah, you might have to give me a few for that to happen again," Dean says to her while shaking his head and looking her over as she walks away from him. What an ass on her. She'd go again right now if he gave her the green light. So awesome.

"You just say the word baby," Lizzy says as she closes the bathroom door.

Sitting up to grab his boxer briefs, Dean catches the moving white box sitting by the door. He ditched it the second they got into the room as Lizzy jumped onto him immediately. Once his underwear is on he grabs the box off the floor and sets it onto the table. Reaching in, he carefully picks up the animal, it's pure white fur brushing softly against his arm and stomach as he pulls it in to hold it.

"Sorry about the noise dude," Dean says down to the small animal as he picks out a piece of lettuce from the nearly untouched burger Sam didn't finish earlier with his free hand. He begins feeding the bunny. "Had some serious business to attend to. But I'm sure you understand, right?"

The bunny stays quiet at it munches away on the small offering it's given.

"You know, Edgar, I like your style," Dean says while grabbing for the tomato off the burger. "Man of a few words."

"Who're you…" Lizzy starts but cuts herself off when she catches sight of just who he's talking to. She busts out a laugh when she sees him only wearing boxer briefs with a furry rabbit in his arms. "This is like come kinda jacked up GQ photo-shoot or something."

"If only GQ could be so lucky." Dean keeps picking around the table for more suitable scraps to feed his new friend.

"What is with you and that thing?" Lizzy wonders as she grabs her underwear off the floor and pops them on, never having seen his affinity for animals before.

"I don't know really," Dean admits, petting it's little head. "I know how pansy this is that I like him but, you know, he's helpless and… oh fuck it, he's God damned adorable."

"That he is," Lizzy laughs once more at his unexpected softy-state as she pops his t-shirt on, it hanging loosely off of her with its much bigger size. She plops back down onto the bed. "But it's not like we can keep him. The Impala doesn't really have room for a bunny cage."

"Yeah, I know," he somewhat sadly responds while looking down at Edgar. "Maybe that's it, huh? I never had a pet growing up. I never could. Maybe that's why I like the little guy."

"I can buy that," Lizzy nods. "Or maybe it's that 'protector of all' shit you got going on." She smirks knowingly over to him as Dean gives her an annoyed look. She lays onto her side and props her head up on her bent arm. "Don't look at me like that because I hit a nerve there buddy boy."

"Shut up."

"Well, we have to return him tomorrow so take it easy on him, ok?" Lizzy's well aware that her request is more of a suggestion to go easy on himself before he gets even more attached.

"Yeah, we'll do that when we go pick up Sam." A slow smile makes its way across his face. "You think he's getting laid?"

"I think it's a foregone conclusion," Lizzy answers, happy to know that Sam is having fun and hopefully not about to call Rina 'Lizzy' by accident. "He really seemed into her."

"Yeah, he did. You think we're gonna have to stick around a few days?"

"I wouldn't mind doing that for him if he wants to."

"Neither would I. Maybe we just should anyways. We need some time off."

"Hell, New Orleans isn't far away," Lizzy looks on the bright side. "We could always drive down there for a day or two and grab Sam on the way back."

"I will absolutely go to New Orleans with you." Dean grins wide with the suggestion.

"Either way a few non-hunting days might do me well. I'm exhausted from all this. Emotions are fucking tiring as shit!"

"Not too tiring I hope," Dean warns her as he puts Edgar back into his box. "Free night, no Sammy. Can't let that kind of a great thing go to waste."

"I am certainly not too tired for you, Hot Shot," Lizzy grins as she watches him make his way over to her.

"I called Bobby, by the way. Before we drove back here."

"Thank you!" Lizzy says, having forgotten to let him know everything worked out once sex was on her brain.

"He said he's glad your ass is safe. He also said the annulment papers are in. Just need to be signed so we should head that way next."

"Nice. I can finally stop being Mrs. Samuel Winchester," Lizzy grimaces. "Still sounds fucking weird."

"Well when you pop the Samuel in there…." He lays on his side facing her and pulls her into him by an ass cheek. She hums with excitement to feel his touch again and runs her tongue along his bottom lip. "How the hell did a guy like me find a freaky little nympho like you anyways?"

"We nymphos can see another nympho coming from a mile away I think. I knew it the second I looked at you."

"Yeah, you looked pretty skanky to me too."

"You're such an ass," Lizzy smiles as she leans in and kisses him.

* * *

 


	25. How Sammy Got His Groove Back

* * *

He’s letting go a bit, he can feel it as he kisses the woman in his lap who’s been able to get to him.  Finally someone has gotten into his head and actually changed something for him, fixed something in him instead of make it all worse.

Sam knows Lou would never want him to have lived his life the way he has since she died.  He took the wrong path when he trusted Ruby first of all.  Lou would have kicked his ass for that, he knows it.  Her very black and white world view would have ensured that.  He also couldn’t move on from her.  The ring hanging around his neck, Lizzy, her best friend and sister, always being around, the dreams with her in them that haunt him all the time, all these things made it so hard to let go of her.  He felt guilty doing so, like he’s tarnishing her memory. 

That’s probably why he got hung up on Lizzy for a while there too.  She’s the only one he feels comfortable with and she’s someone he knows Lou approves of.  She’s his best link back to her.  He’s really gone way off track with his love for Lou and how he managed it day to day.

But Rina reached him.  He isn’t sure how, but she certainly did.  For once he doesn’t feel wrong or like a bad person for kissing another woman.  It feels like he’s allowed to again, allowed to try and enjoy his life and climb out of the dark hole he’s been hiding in.

“Thank you,” Sam suddenly blurts out mid kiss when he feels the need to let her know how thankful he is for what she’s trying to do for him.

Rina smiles with the pause and the thanks.  “Anytime.”  She runs her hand gently down the side of his face.  “You’re a very cerebral person.  You seemed locked up in there,” she informs him while tapping her fingers lightly on his temple.

He nods.  “Generally I am.”

“You’re going to be ok,” Rina assures him.  “You’ll find a way past this but only if you let yourself.”

“I can see that now,” Sam smiles small with his arms loosely around her waist.  “It’s just been so hard… Lou has such a hold on me.  But I know she’d want me to move on and for her I have to.  For myself too.”

“Would you like to give moving on a try right now?” she smiles to him, hoping he’s hearing her invitation loud and clear.

Looking into her very dark eyes, the candle light in the room reflecting off of her irises as they dance into the air, for once he does want to try.  Not because he hasn’t been laid in a while and he just has to for physical reasons.  Not because he’s lonely either.  It’s because he actually wants to.  It’s been a long time since he’s just plain wanted to be with someone because they intrigued him and made him feel something.

Answering her question, Sam kisses her again, deeper than before, and shows her he wants this.  He wants her.  And more than that, he’s actually able to have her.

“Come with me,” Rina asks of him when she pulls away and looks into his eyes.  She smiles something sweet before standing up, her hand still in his.  Sam gets up also and follows her into her bedroom.

“Rui, out,” she calls to her dog while pointing out into the hallway and the mutt obediently heads out of the room.  She shuts the door and pulls Sam over to the edge of her bed.  He sits there and watches as she moves to stand between his knees.  Circling her arms around his neck, Rina kisses him again. 

Pulling her a little closer with his hands on her hips, Sam can feel the tension he normally carries with him everywhere start to melt.  He really does need Rina.  And now that she’s taken the initiative to give him what he’s needed for so long, he needs all of her.

Pausing to look at Sam with a mixture of certainty and want, Rina pulls her shirt over her head, the gold bangles around her arm jangling as she does.  Sam just looks at her, taking in the sight with his hesitance.  He’s right on the cusp of letting himself free and allowing himself the moment to connect with someone new. 

“Sam,” Rina calls his attention to her eyes after he doesn’t move for some time.  Once he looks up to her she takes his hands and places them on the bare skin of her sides.  “It’s ok.  I want you to touch me.  I really think you should.”

Her smiling face, her features so dark and beautiful and nothing like Lou’s, her caring nature so perfectly what he needs, Sam finally allows himself to let go of the past enough to let him really be with someone else.

Pulling her back into himself, Sam holds her body against his and kisses her hard.  Damn, it feels so good to be open, not guarded or worried, not even guilty, while with someone like this.  Her lips moving with his, her tongue sliding just once over his bottom lip, every second more that he gets of her feels like absolute liberty from the shitty life he’s lived for nearly two years now.

Taking full command of the situation, as she can tell she’s going to have to, Rina slides the heavy jacket he’s wearing off of his shoulders and as Sam frees his arms from it, she begins lifting his long-sleeve t-shirt underneath it upward.  Jacket off, shirt off, Rina smiles wide at him reassuringly. 

“Beauty on the inside and the outside,” she comments with her hands sliding over his chest and shoulders.  “Rare thing to find these days.”

Grinning while suddenly feeling slightly shy, San ducks his head a bit before putting his hands back onto her hips.  “Could say the same about you.” 

Rina smiles even wider before leaning into him again, kissing him deep. 

Sam continues to drop his guard little by little, feeling bolder the more she pushes him. 

Rina reaches behind herself to unclasp her bra, moving back a step to give herself room to take the item off.  Once it drops to the floor, giving Sam an eyeful of the flawless and stunning woman in front of him, she finally breaks him down for good. 

Pulling her in by the hand, Sam grabs her waist and picks her up just enough to get her onto the bed.  Once she has her head resting comfortably on the pillows at her headboard, Sam moves in and crawls over her.  Kissing her again, Rina brings her arms around his neck and has a moment of pride.  She knows he’s with her completely now.  He fought through the fog of his crowded and punishing mind and found a way to her.  He’s motivated by his want for _her_ now, not the memory of someone else. 

Moving lower, his mouth finding her neck as his hands take the time to explore her half-naked form, Sam hyper focuses.  Just like everything else in life, when Sam commits his time and effort to something, he gives it his all.  From straight A’s through his entire educational career to being on the job to moments like this, Sam lived by one motto; go big or go home.  It’s something both John and Dean instilled in him his whole life.  They both made sure Sam knew the importance of not slacking off, especially when their lives depended on it.  His father and brother had two different definitions of giving their all, however, and Dean’s version is the one that stuck.  He made sure to apply it to everything, all aspects of life, not just hunting.  His brother always told Sam to do his best, to be his best.  Who knew that advice would follow him into _every_ part of his life, even ones like this?

Continuing his southbound path, Sam really takes his time and learns Rina.  He wants to map her out, find every one of her sweet spots, while making her purr her approval and move beneath him slowly and with complete enjoyment.   Her lean, tall frame shifts with the sensation of his lips and tongue as he slowly makes his way, the shadows created by the light seeping through the blinds of her bedroom windows playing across her darker skin beautifully. 

When Sam reaches her jeans, he pauses just for a second before Rina cards her hands through his hair, a silent reminder that whatever he’s doing, it’s good.  She wants him to.  He begins opening her pants and she sits up, pulling him into another heated kiss as he works.  Without separating his lips from hers, Sam leans forwards again until Rina’s once more lying back.  He dips his fingers into the waist of her jean and pulls them down slowly, taking his time to admire her long, smooth legs as he uncovers them.  Once her pants are gone and she’s only left with her small, red panties, Sam’s hands can’t quite seem to stay off of her.  He drags his fingertips over every part of her he can.

Hooking long fingers around the sides of her underwear, Sam smiles warmly up to Rina before sliding them down until he frees her of the last of her clothing.  His hands running back up her legs, Sam lowers his head to places sweet, honest kisses across her lower stomach and her inner thighs.  He’s so thankful for everything that Rina has done for him, has given him, and he’d love nothing more than to show her how absolutely grateful he really is.

“Oh.” 

It is a simple, soft moan of appreciation that Sam gets as he lies on his stomach on Rina’s bed and gives her one, broad, painstakingly slow lick upwards.  As much as she meant to make this about him, Sam’s decided to change that.  She saved Lizzy from her absolute misery and she gave him some semblance of control and freedom again.   She’s giving without expecting a single thing in return.  In Sam’s mind, this is the absolute least he can do for her.

“Oh,” Rina lets out, a little louder than before as Sam finds his groove.  “Oh, wow.”

Smiling to himself briefly, Sam continues on with a glowing sense of pride.  This was something he loved to do, _love_ to do, and reactions like that might just be the reason why.  With Rina making such wonderful sounds of enjoyment Sam feels like for once he isn’t some fuck up.  He’s never disappointed anyone while doing this, not once he’s happy to say, and considering how much he’s screwed up in every other arena of his life it feels nice to have this.  He’s in control, he certainly knows what he’s doing and, judging by the way Rina’s hips are gyrating and moving against his mouth, he’s succeeding instead of failing.

Mouth working her over, Sam hooks his arms around her thighs, holding them open as she tenses up with the sensation he gives her.

As Rina’s hands grasp into his hair, Sam looks up at her.  Eyes shut tight and mouth open as she breathes hard, he catches the sight of her right when she reaches her limit.

“Oh, yes.  Sam.”  It isn’t much over a whisper, but he heard it clearly.  His name coming from her lips sounds delighted and so pure… and surprising.  She is subdued through her climax unlike some of the other women he’s been with, namely Lou.  Lou was loud.  Very loud.  And never inhibited.  Rina, though not inhibited in any way, is internal and just plain different.  For once, Sam’s actually ok with that.

A hand on her forehead as Sam crawls back up to face her once she’s had a moment, Rina smiles wide at him. 

“Oh boy.  Are you _sure_ you don’t want to move here?” she playfully asks him.

Sam laughs at her a bit before Rina stops him when she presses her lips to his.  Before long, she’s making slow moves to get him on his back.  Sam obliges her happily and relaxes into the mattress a bit, more than fine with letting her do whatever she’d like. 

Rina sits up on him, looking down with lusty eyes as she takes her time, running her hands over his body.  Sam admires that she takes it slow, like she’s absorbing not just his form but who he is.  Her palms smooth over his chest, run down shoulder and arms, and finally her fingers link into his own.

“I’m very glad we met, Sam,” Rina says earnestly, pausing to let him know this.  “I feel… good when around you.”

“I’d say,” Sam smirks.

“Not exactly what I mean.  You’re funny,” Rina says honestly, not sarcastic in the least, as she leans down and kisses his lips softly.  “And you’re sweet,” she adds with a kiss to his cheek.  “And caring,” a kiss to neck.  “And genuine,” another kiss to his shoulder.

“I get it,” Sam huffs a laugh as he grows uncomfortable with the flattery.

“And apparently a bit modest too,” Rina adds while pressing her lips to his stomach.  “You don’t take compliments well.”

“I guess not,” Sam answers, watching her reach for the top of his pants.

“Maybe you’re just not used to it?” she pries as she opens the button and slowly lowers the zipper of his jeans.

“Definitely not used to it,” Sam answers truthfully.  “Especially not recently.”

“Then it’s good that I told you what I see in you,” Rina smiles warmly.  “You probably needed the reminder.”

Smiling wide, Sam is once more surprised by her.  “You’re so different than anyone I’ve ever met before.”

“Well I hope that’s a good thing,” she laughs quietly while moving down towards the foot of the bed, pulling his jeans down with her. 

“Trust me,” Sam answers her while watching her work.  “It absolutely is.”

Rina tosses his pants onto the chair just to the side of her bed before reaching back up to completely disrobe him.  “Then I take it as the flattery that it is.  Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Sam answers, grin on his face as she gets rid of the last of his clothing.  He watches as her eyes light up just slightly when she gets a look at him.  He knows that look.  He always gets one of two looks when he’s being first being surveyed while naked by a woman.  It’s either the look of total excitement (Lou) or the look of a little fear (Rina).  His size can be intimidating, he knows that.

“So, um, I have a confession to make,” Rina starts as she walks to her nightstand and opens the drawer.  “It’s been a while… for me.  Since I’ve last done this.”

“Well you’re doing great,” Sam smiles jokingly at her and Rina smiles back, tucking her hair behind her right ear like she does when nervous. 

“See, you _are_ sweet,” she answers him, grabbing something before shutting the drawer.  She climbs back onto the bed and once more straddles his thighs. 

“I could swear you’re a little nervous all of a sudden,” Sam says to her, hands running over her upper legs as she tears open the condom in her hands.

“I might be,” she answers, all the while clearly meaning that yes she is in fact nervous. 

“It’s ok,” Sam tells her, trying not to moan obscenely when she touches him for the first time to put the condom on for him. 

“Just, you know,” she says with pause once she’s done and looks up to him.  “Take it slow at first.”

“I have incredible self-restraint,” Sam assures her and pulls her arms gently until she’s leaning over him, kissing him again.  Getting much more comfortable with just how kind and easy going Rina is, he’s still a little surprised by how anxious she’s suddenly has become.  He doesn’t want her nervous.  He needs to put her at easy.  Leaning up to her ear, Sam speaks evenly and to the point.  “You just tell me what you want from me.  Anything, just say it.”

She smiles with his words, hiding briefly behind her long dark hair. 

“I want you to stay right where you are for now,” Rina answers with a hand on his cheek, a more relaxed expression making its way onto her face with the offer.  Reaching down between them both, she holds Sam up and positions herself over him.  Closing her eyes, she slowly lowers herself, taking him in inch by inch.  Once he’s fully inside her, Rina pauses and grins, eyes still closed as she adjusts.  “Wow.”

“Damn straight,” Sam breathily responds, agreeing with her sentiment exactly.

“Oh boy,” Rina huffs.  “It’s been far too long.”

Her intimate admission makes Sam somehow want her more.  She’s obviously giving him something she very rarely shares with others.  How he got the honor, he’ll never understand but he isn’t about to question it.  Instead he plans to make sure her decision is a well-made one.

Sam grins up to her, cupping her face in his hands and bringing her down to him, kissing her with purpose and total gratitude. 

She doesn’t move, just kisses him right back and keeps her body still as she gets used to him.  Sam’s dying… _dying_ … for her to do something, _anything_ , but he doesn’t push.  She asked him to go slow and even if this is slower than slow for him he remains patient.  Sam bides his time and lets his hands travel again, moving down her neck, over her breasts, around her back and landing on the curves of her ass.

After keeping still for so long that his complete restraint has faded quite a bit, Sam very gently uses his grip on her ass to lift her up slightly before lowering her gradually back onto himself.  When done, he looks up to her.

“Ok?” he checks in with her, making sure she’s still good, still with him.

“Very ok,” Rina answers as she presses her palms to his chest and sits up.  From there, she regains her wits and motivation and begins moving on her own accord, rising and falling onto him.  Sam watches her with almost awe.  She moves with such grace and purpose.  Once more she’s not hurried or anxious.  Rina is deliberate and, damn it, she’s sexy as hell.  She’s different and wonderful, and Sam knows she wouldn’t lie but it seems to him that she very clearly knows what she’s doing. 

Hands on her hips, Sam lets her continue, afraid to push her.  However, when Rina leans back down to him and he hears what she has to say he loses his hesitancy.

“Honestly, I was nervous about your size,” Rina says into his ear before running her tongue along the shell of it, making him moan.  “I’m alright now.”  She drags her tongue down his neck.  “More than alright.  You feel so good.”

Well if that didn’t just push Sam about as far as he can go.  Screw self-control…

Needing more, Sam rolls over them over until Rina is on her back.  Her legs around his waist, he braces an elbow to each side of her head.  As he kisses her hard, her hands grasping to either side of his neck, Sam’s need is what is driving him now.  He starts working in and out of her at a slightly quicker pace than she had set before.  Hearing her soft sounds of enjoyment, he knows he made the right choice to take back a little control.  They’re on the same level now, the same page. 

“Sam,” Rina says quietly against his lips, her voice light and filled with want, before kissing him again.  With her body fully pressed against his, the warmth of not only her skin but her whole being fills him.  Warm is the perfect word to describe her.  Everything about her is caring and inviting.  He’s been at complete ease around her from the second he met her and Sam admittedly isn’t always the smoothest around women he’s attracted to.  Luckily most find that endearing.  He himself finds it embarrassing.  His brother finds it funny of course.  But Rina never had that nerve-wracking effect on him.  Her presence is soothing.

He buries his face in the crook of her neck, licking and sucking her sweet smelling skin as he continues to push her a little closer to the edge.  He grinds his hips forward and up with every even paced thrust, knowing that he’s hitting the right spot each time.  It’s a little trick that did Jessica in every time and he’s held onto it ever since.

“Oh, Sam,” her still quiet tone calls his name in such a wonderful way.  Her hands around his back, fingers pressing into his skin as she feels the building moment from within her, Rina’s moans for the first time actually grow in volume.  “Oh, oh, yes.”

Sam lifts his head and seals his mouth over hers, wanting to so badly to take in the music that is her sounds.  His tongue moving against hers, Sam picks up his pace.

“Oh yes,” Rina says as she grabs the sides of his face and lowers her chin until her forehead is pressed to the hollow of his throat.  “Sam!”

With that, Sam gleefully watches Rina succumb to him for the second time, her craze-heavy voice groaning in pleasure and making Sam grin for a moment.  He pauses to watch her intently, not being able to help himself.  She looked so beautiful like this.  However, when Rina sees him looking at her with intensity, she covers her face.

“Wow,” Rina says behind her fingers. 

“I like hearing that,” Sam says back with a smile while gently pulling her hands away from her face.  “You ok?”

“Oh yeah,” Rina says with a shy laugh.  “I’m good.”

“Good,” Sam returns as he separated the two of them lies down on his side next to her.  He runs his hand the length of her torso and back up again as he gives her a moment to regroup.  She seemed like she needed it.  After a few silent yet very comfortable moments Sam shares a happy grin with her once he figures out his next move.

“What?” Rina has to wonder while trying to figure out what suddenly made him smile like that.

“Come here,” he answers simply as he turns her onto her side facing away from him before hooking an arm around her.  He pulls her in until he’s spooning her.  Pulling her top leg upward until it’s bent at the knee, he places her foot on the outside of his thigh, keeping her legs open for him.  Sam then reaches lower and positions himself at her entrance.

“You just keep going, don’t you?” Rina breathlessly wonders while feeling him press against her.

“Sure do,” he says back while once more sliding into her.  Sam then brings an arm under her neck and across her shoulders, holding onto her tightly, and his free hand comes to her hip.

“Oh boy, Sam… I’ve already hit my limit tonight.”

“What do you mean?” he wonders, kissing her exposes neck.

“I mean… two is my record.”

“Two times…?”

“Yeah, a new record set tonight actually,” she huffs, Sam’s free hand crawling across her stomach as he understands what she’s saying.  “Normally I’m a one and done kind of woman.”

“Then let’s change that,” Sam simply answers as he slowly starts pumping his hips, moving inside her and making her start up with her soft moans instantly.

Pulling her in tight by the arm around her shoulders, Sam’s lips return to her neck.  Smelling her skin again, coconut he thinks, he lets his hand wander lower.

“Oh… my….” Rina drawls out when Sam’s fingers find their destination.  As he begins pressing slow, firm circles into her, he can feel her body squirm a little in his hold.  Perfect.  This felt so perfect.  The woman in his hold is perfect.  Damn he needed this.

His mouth landing on her shoulder, Sam continues on but starts to realizes he’s not going to be able to, as Rina put it, ‘just keep going’ much more.  The woman he’s with won’t let him as she’s turning him on way too much.  The smell of her soft, tan skin, the quiet and sexy sounds she makes, everything about her is suddenly rushing him to his own end.

“Sam,” she says his name again as her hands grasp onto his forearm across her chest.  Sam moves faster, both hand and hips, and her grip holds on harder.  He can feel her toes curling against his leg as she finds her third release of the night.  “Yes, yes.  Uh, Sam.”

“Oh fuck, Rina,” Sam lets spill from his lips as he comes hard, his arms tightly pulling her into him.  He presses his forehead to the back of her shoulder and rides it out, feeling the freedom of the moment overwhelm him. 

Staying right where he is for a few minutes, the both of them breathing deep and just plain enjoying the aftermath, Sam has to smile to himself.  He feels good, better than good.  He hasn’t felt this good since that night with Lou in the Impala after Christmas. 

“Ahh,” Sam sighs as he lies onto his back and looks up to the ceiling.  Rina turns around to face him and snuggles into his side, her hand draping across his stomach.

“Sam?”

“Yeah?” Sam huffs in a big exhale.

“You’re moving in.”

Sam laughs aloud with her comment and kisses her cheek.

* * *

 


	26. Good Morning, Good Morning

* * *

He can hear his phone ringing but he could really care less. He's too comfortable and so content with just lying there in Rina's bed, a comfortable bed that had several threat count sheets and a big, thick comforter… and Rina. But hunters who don't answer their phones are hunters who sometimes find themselves in trouble so he knows better than to ignore it.

Breathing in deeply and prying his eyes open, Sam turns to look at the source of the sound. In his pants, draped over an upholstered chair by the bed, is where he last left his phone. Pulling his arm out from under Rina's shoulders, Sam sits up and leans over the edge of the bed to grab his jeans and fish out his phone before it goes to voicemail.

"Hello?" his sleep-worn voice greets.

"Morning sunshine!" Lizzy's bright voice cheers to him.

"Mornin' Lizzy," Sam answers right back.

"I trust you had a nice evening."

"I trust the same for you," Sam rolls his eyes.

"Sorry if I woke you, which it sounds like I did."

"Yeah, but it's ok."

"Ah, long night. I understand. Well I'm calling for a couple reasons. Number one, we talked to Bobby and his lawyer friend dropped off the annulment papers at his place yesterday. We just have to sign them and we're good to go. No more fake marriage."

"That's good," Sam gratefully answers, happy to officially end that whole debacle.

"Second, I was calling to see if you wanted to stick around for a few days. I figured you might want to and Dean and I are more than happy to stay put for some time. You know, not work for once."

"Let me get back to you on that one," he answers as he peers down to Rina lying next to him, now smiling up at him while he's on the phone. He smiles right back.

"Well just know that the offer is there," Lizzy tells him. "We're gonna go grab some breakfast and fart around town. Call us when you know what you wanna do. Then after we can shoot up to Sioux Falls so I can divorce my boyfriend's brother."

"Jesus that sounds redneck," Sam huffs to himself.

"Where's Springer when you need him?" she returns. "Hey, ah, you didn't, like, call her my name or anything did you?"

"Lizzy…"

"Exactly like that!"

"You really think you're funny, don't you?"

"I know I'm funny, thank you very much. And seriously, I hope you didn't. This one looks nothing like me," Lizzy further makes fun.

"I'm getting off the phone now."

"Aw, I was just teasing, Sam-I-Am. Call us, ok?"

"Yeah."

He hangs up and drops his phone on the comforter over his lap while rubbing his hands over his face.

"She sure likes pestering you," Rina comments after hearing only one side of the conversation.

"Putting it lightly."

"Eh, it's out of love."

"Of she's the sister I never wanted alright," Sam laughs while laying back down, an elbow propping him up while lying on his side. He looks at her for a second, her dark eye makeup and red lips now washed away, and realizes she might look even better without it. She's naturally pretty. "Isn't it late? Don't you have to open the store?"

"See, that's the beauty of owning your own place," Rina rebuts. "I can do whatever I want. If I say we open at noon today, then we open at noon today."

"How nice."

"How very nice, especially when I plan on making breakfast for a very road weary hunter after a really good night." Rina winks at him, places one very sweet and innocent kiss on his lips, and pulls away the covers. She gets out of bed and heads out the door of her room, not bothering to put anything more on than the tight t-shirt and boyshort panties she already is wearing.

Sam smiles to himself, feeling that for once he's found happiness. She asked him just yesterday when it was that he was last happy and his answer was from so long ago that it was depressing. Now, as he gets up and starts putting on his jeans and t-shirt, he really hopes she asks him that question again over breakfast so he can give her the new answer.

* * *

"Sure you're ready to do this?" Lizzy wonders as she peers over to Dean in the passenger seat, the pet store box in his lap.

"Yes," Dean returns with utter annoyance. "It's a fucking rabbit, L."

"That you named."

"So?"

"And fed."

"So?"

"And talked to last night… several times."

"Still just a rabbit," Dean tries to fool himself as he looks out the car window at the store front. He doesn't want to return him. Edgar is a fucking animal, a rodent really, so why the hell this is so hard to deal with is beyond him.

"Want me to do it?" Lizzy softens her expression and leaves the joking alone. He's sad and she just wants to make it easier on him, even if she can't quite understand it. This is so not like him.

"I'm fine," he answers sternly while opening the door and getting out. He walks up to the front door of the pet store with the box in his hands and sighs once before heading in, Lizzy right behind him.

"Good morning!" the balding gentleman calls over to them from the counter.

"Hey," Dean greets back. "Uh, I have to make a return, I guess."

"Oh really?" the man answers as Dean places the box on the counter.

"Yeah, we can't keep him."

The pet store worker opens the top and smiles sadly. "It's a shame. Petey here's a good little rabbit. Easy going, not skittish at all."

"Petey?"

"Yeah, why? What did you name him?"

"Edgar."

The owner laughs a little at the answer. "Frankenstein is still a great song if you ask me."

"See, he gets it!" Dean points to the guy while looking at Lizzy, still shocked that she and Sam didn't understand the reference at first.

"Yes he does," she patronizingly explains while dropping a hand on his shoulder. She looks over to the shop worker. "We just realized that we shouldn't be having a pet right now. We're too busy for it and he's a good bunny who deserves a good home."

"I do appreciate your honesty," the man admits. "Most would have sent him off into the woods to fend for himself instead of bothering coming back. Let me get you a refund."

"Thanks," Lizzy says while watching Dean look into the box with longing. She leans over and whispers to him, "Say your goodbyes."

"Shut up."

"Here you go," the nice man says while holding out money to Dean before he realizes the he'd already picked up Edgar and his hands are busy.

"Thank you very much," Lizzy butts in and takes the money for him. "Where can we set him?"

"In the cage with the rest," he answers, pointing to a large hutch in the back of the store. Walking over, Dean petting his little buddy the whole way, Lizzy opens the top of cage for him.

"Alright dude, be good," Dean says as he drops him gently in with the other, multicolor bunnies running around. "Try and bang as much tail as you can in there before someone else buys you up, huh?"

"Good advice," Lizzy laughs as she closes the cover of the cage and takes his hand. "How about I buy you some eggs with lots of bacon to make you feel better."

"Throw in some hash browns and I'm there."

"Of course," she grins as she grabs his hand. Dean looks one last time at the cage before letting her lead him out of the store with a parting wave aimed at the owner.

* * *

"So how long until you have to head out?" Rina asks Sam as she fills his plate with scrambled eggs straight from the skillet she cooked them in before dropping some onto her plate also. Sam smiles at her for the gesture as he sits at her small kitchen table.

"Might be today," he answers quickly. With everything going on right now, the Apocalypse and Michael coming for Dean, maybe it's best he gets out of town. He really likes Rina a lot… enough to stay away from her for obvious reasons. He doesn't want anything coming after her, but he doesn't want her to think he's ditching her either.

"Ain't not rest for the wicked."

"No there ain't." Sam pops a piece of cantaloupe into his mouth and thinks while he chews.

"Well, I do have to open the store for at least a few hours, but if you'd like I wouldn't mind some company for dinner if you could squeeze out one more day here," Rina grins as she takes a seat across from him at her small table.

"That's very nice of you, but I think we might be gone by then. Some things we have to get to."

The disappointment is clear in her expression and Sam feels bad already.

"Rina, I'm sorry if it seems like I just kinda came here and then we, you know…" Sam once more finds himself unsure of his words in front of her. "I'm not trying to ditch you or anything after what we did, is what I'm trying to say."

"You're too sweet to try and ditch me," Rina smiles.

"I'm glad you think so," Sam adds. "I just, you've been so kind and understanding and shockingly helpful, I'd hate it if you thought that I was just looking to, you know, get laid."

At this Rina laughs. "You may definitely know what you're doing in bed, but I feel like you don't share one too often."

"I do not," Sam huffs right back.

"So don't worry then," she returns. "I don't think you were using me for sex."

Sam nods happily.

"I was just hoping for a little more time with you is all."

"That would have been really nice," Sam agrees.

"But I understand," Rina tells him. "I know your kind well enough to know you can't be in one place for very long. I'm just happy to have met you at all, honestly."

"You're happy  _you_  met  _me_?" Sam asks with surprise. "I'm the mess. I'm one who should be happy to have met you."

"Yeah, but you had a positive effect on me too," Rina brushes off. "I don't really find too many guys like you around."

Sam laughs as he looks down at his food, suddenly bashful with the compliment.

"I have to leave in about an hour," she warns though a bite of egg. "You have anything you have to get to?"

"Um, yeah," Sam answers, thinking quickly. "I have a few errands to run before we go."

"You should come by the store," Rina asks with hope. "Say goodbye before you hit the road."

"I promise I will." Sam grins as he eats another piece of fruit. Rina looks right back, similar grin on her lips. "Ask me again."

"Ask you what?"

"When the last time was that I was happy," Sam tells her while sipping his coffee.

"Ok," Rina smiles out. "Sam, when was the last time you were truly happy?"

"Right now," he quickly answers, his hand landing on hers as it rests on the table. 

As Rina's face blushes a bit they continue to sit and chat while finishing breakfast, enjoying each other's company.

* * *

 


	27. Business as Usual

* * *

"Hey guys!" Rina happily greets as Lizzy and Dean walk into her store.

"Hey," Dean answers back. "Where's the Sas?"

"The Sas?" she has to ask.

"Quatch. Sasquatch. The tall guy," Dean says as Rina giggles.

"Oh, I don't know. He said he'd be here around one."

"He told us to meet him here to head out at two." Lizzy checks her phone. "And we're late. That's weird."

"He's a punctual guy usually?" Rina wonders.

"Down to the minute," Dean informs her with a stern voice. Lizzy can already see the anger and suspicion creeping in with Sam's unknown whereabouts.

"He's probably just getting stuff for the ride, refilling supplies," Lizzy tries to rationalize as she rubs over his upper arm to calm him.

"Without the car?" Dean asks her with some anger, debunking her theory completely.

"I'm saying give him a chance to get here and explain before you lose it," Lizzy whispers.

"Fine," Dean grits through his clenched teeth.

"Hi!" Sam says loudly with a smile as he rushes through the front door of the store.

"The hell have you been?" Dean loudly demands the second his brother makes his presence known.

Sam pauses where he is and looks at Dean with a bewildered and shock expression. He was beginning to think they were past this but clearly he was very wrong about that. Dean's peering at him the same way he did for the past year. His trust is still broken.

"I had some things I had to do that ran longer than I thought they would."

"What kinds of things?" Dean crosses his arms over his chest and stands tall. Rina looks to Lizzy with a confused expression and Lizzy just shakes her head.

"Don't start this," Sam says while trying to walk around his brother and get to Rina. Dean side steps and stands in front of him, a hand pressing into Sam's chest to make him stop.

"Where were you, Sam?" Dean asks, his mind getting the better of him as it wanders to places of demon blood and psychic powers.

"Dean, this needs to stop."

"Not until I know you're not up to something."

"Alright," Lizzy jumps in between the two of them. "Sam, we're ready to go when you are, so come meet us out by the car when you're done here. Take your time." Lizzy pushes Dean towards the door. "Let's give him some time and go cool off, Hot Shot."

"Un-be-fucking-ilevable ," Dean mumbles under his breath as he lets his girl steer him out the door.

"Thank you so much again, Rina," Lizzy calls back as she hustles Dean out of the store before anything gets worse. "I owe you my life!"

"Don't mention it," Rina smiles back.

As soon as they're gone, Sam sighs loudly and runs a hand through his hair.

"You two seem tense," Rina states the obvious.

"Yeah, we have some trust issues."

"You don't say."

"Sorry I'm late," Sam grins as he makes his way over to her, placing a small paper bag on the counter between them.

"It's fine. I'm just glad you didn't leave without saying goodbye."

"I didn't want to go without giving you this," Sam answers as he takes out a stack of maps, a fat black candle, and a small, leather bound notebook.

"What is all this?" Rina knows a thing or two about the occult world, but the things he's setting out for her don't have a proper fit together in her mind.

"This is for the next time your grandmother runs off," Sam explains. "As much as you two disagree I can tell you love her. You put up with her and, as you said, clean up her messes. I can completely understand that kinda, I guess, bond through experience."

"I'll say," Rina grins once more. She's seen him and his brother together enough to know that they have difficult times but that they love each other fiercely.

"So the next time she goes off missing or you need to find her or someone she's cursed, use this," Sam explains while opening up the notebook to the first page titled 'Location Spell'. "The instructions and words are all written down. This is how I found your grandmother in the first place. It's what brought me here."

"Whoa," Rina worries with lowered eyebrows as she reads over the page. "Latin? This is heavy duty stuff here."

"Yeah, I've been around the block a few times."

Rina drops the notebook onto the counter and looks up to him with a sigh. "That was so nice of you."

"I felt I owed you one."

"You really didn't though. I was happy to help."

"And so am I."

Rina looks with fondness at the man she's just started to get to know.

"I also popped in a few spells and what not I thought you might not already know. I'm sure you have your own version of most of them but I figured what the hell."

Walking around the counter, Rina closes the space between them and cups his face.

"I like you. You're a good man." She kisses him on the lips and then hugs him tight. "You watch yourself out there, ok? Something is after you, Sam. Whatever it is, don't let it get you because it is bad news."

"Thank you looking out for me," Sam responds, not letting her go for a second. "And if you ever need help with anything, call."

"What if I just call you to check on you?" Rina asks, backing away and grinning up to him.

"I wouldn't mind that," he tells her in all honest.

Rina pulls him into one last kiss before she bids him farewell.

"Bye, Sam."

"Bye, Rina."

Sam makes his way out of the store, looking back to her with affection one last time before walking out the door.

* * *

"I don't trust him," Dean angrily says while sitting in the car waiting for Sam.

"You're kidding," Lizzy caustically bites back from the passenger side.

"Do you?" Dean challenges her, not understanding how she's fine with Sam disappearing, even if it was only for an hour.

"Yeah, I do."

"How?"

"He's sorry, Dean! Sam's been doing everything he can to make you trust him again. He hasn't disappeared for a second this whole time until right now and I'll bet anything it has nothing to do with what you think it does!"

"I can't afford to make that assumption."

"It's not an assumption."

"He's fucking up to something, L."

Lizzy begins counting to ten and trying to bring down her ire at the man sitting next to her. She loves him dearly but sometimes he just makes her want to pull out her Glock and get him right between the eyes. He's so stubborn that nothing can ever get through to him when he gets like this… not even her.

"You haven't given him enough time."

"I don't need time. I need Sam back the way he was. I need to know he will never do anything stupid like that again. I need to stop worrying about him so much."

"That can't happen overnight," Lizzy reminds him, running her hand over the side of his head to show him the support he clearly needs. "I really don't think he was off doing anything bad."

"But you don't know that for sure." Dean turns to see Sam heading towards the car. "I swear I don't even know who that guy is anymore."

The blow to the chest she feels with his words hurt hard. To think that he sees Sam so differently now is terrible and she'd try to sway his opinion if Sam hadn't just opened the back door to get in.

"How'd it go?" Lizzy asks back to Sam.

"It went," Sam says, his mood instantly gloomier as he settles into the back seat. Being in the vicinity of his overreacting, overly suspicious brother brings him down in a split second.

"Well, I like her a lot, Sam," Lizzy adds in, doing what she can to lighten the mood as Dean starts up the car. She waits for a response but gets only silence instead. Feeling the tension in the cab of the car, Lizzy sighs loudly. "Oh yeah, this road trip is gonna be awesome."

"Were you going to tell me that everything worked out?"

The three hunters all turn with a start to look in the direction of the new voice.

"Cas! Fuck!" Lizzy shouts with a hand over her chest.

"Damn it!" Sam breathes out as he stops himself from nearly decking Castiel when he caught him off guard.

"You said you'd keep me updated." The angel, suddenly sitting rigidly in the available space in the back seat next to Sam, sounds irritated at best.

"And you said you couldn't find us with the rib markings," Dean challenges. "How'd you know where we were?"

Castiel reaches under the passenger side seat in front of him and holds up a small hex bag for them to see.

"You Lojacked us?" Sam asks incredulously. "With witchcraft!?"

"I knew you would forget to inform me of Elizabeth's progress unless you needed me. I was desperate."

"Oh… I'm sorry Cas," Lizzy apologizes. "Things just moved so quickly once we found out where the gypsy was…."

"She fixed you last night. It has been half a day," he quickly responds as he turns to face her. He could feel the second she was released from the curse. "I have been worried."

"Great," Dean complains, seeing the chick flick moment coming a mile away. "Look Cas, don't be so dramatic huh? You can feel Lizzy all the time so you know when she's ok and when she needs help. You knew she was fine so we didn't have to tell you. Untwist those panties for fuck's sake."

"That's true," Lizzy says while peering at the angel as the truth of Dean's words make sense to her. "You knew how I was doing all along even if you didn't know where I was. Why are you so upset, Cassie?"

Castiel looks out the window and avoids her.

"Holy fucking fuck," Lizzy says with a half grin. "You're mad because you think I forgot about you."

Still silent and awkward, but she gets no answer.

"Cassie," Lizzy coos as he reluctantly looks at her. "You care. That's so sweet!"

"I… I am not… I just am asking you keep me aware of your issues and progress. It is important for me to know. It is my job to know."

"I really am sorry. Sometimes you're so serious I lose sight of how much you worry and love me." Lizzy gives a wide smile to him.

"Apology accepted," Castiel relents. He couldn't be upset at her for long anyways. Even when she was just a child he'd experience an internal glow now and then when she was being just her sweet self. "I am just glad that the whole ordeal is over now."

"Us too," Sam sighs. "That was not good."

"It sucked big dicks," Lizzy tacks on.

"Where are you going now?" Castiel wonders.

"Bobby's," Dean answers. "Headed to take a day and get these two divorced."

"Annulled," Sam corrects quickly.

"Whatever," Dean returns, his tone heated. "That's where we'll be if you need us."

Castiel disappears from the car once he knows where they'll be. Clearly, he's still angry.

"Ah, shit. I fucked up," Lizzy scolds herself as she covers her eyes with her hands. "I forgot about him. How did I do that?"

"You've been a little stressed," Dean tried to help. "You have an excuse."

"But I still feel bad." Lizzy rubs her forehead. "I bummed him out when he's been so good to me."

"He'll get over it. Call him in a few days." Dean pats her on the knee quickly before focusing on the drive.

"Yeah…" Lizzy sits back and settles in for the long right. "I guess. I'm definitely going to call him."

"He'd probably like that," Sam adds in, looking to ease Lizzy's mind a little.

"Jesus, when did Cas become less of a fearsome warrior of God and more of a fucking emotional girl?" Dean grumbles with the angel's display. So not like the angel he knows, and nothing at all like the Cas he first met a year ago. But then again that old Cas was a dick, so maybe this was a good thing.

"When he met me," Lizzy huffs but the other two men stay quiet. She's right. They've all changed because of her, even the two most emotionally stagnant hunters on Earth; even an angel of the Lord.

* * *

"He passed out?" Lizzy asks Sam from the driver's seat. She can't see Dean's face from the rearview mirror as he's stretch across the back seat as comfortably as he can manage.

"Yeah," Sam answers after glancing back, seeing his brother's still form as Lizzy's IPod plays loudly into his ears.

"Thank God," Lizzy says with thankful happiness. "He was pissing me off with that shitty attitude of his."

"It's not gonna stop." Sam looks out the side window sadly. "He's never going to forgive me."

"I still say it's a bunch of hypocritical bullshit," she tells him. "He had his share in creating our current mess. Please don't forget that."

Sam nods and stays quiet.

"Shit. You're gonna ditch us," Lizzy more states than questions and again Sam doesn't say anything back. "When? After we sign those papers?"

"I don't know," Sam finally speaks, letting her know his intended plans.

"I never stood a chance at changing your mind, did I?"

"Not really." Sam sighs as he knows how much he's disappointing her. "You know this has absolutely nothing to do with you, right?"

"How could it not?" Lizzy quietly challenges.

"It doesn't."

"But you're leaving me too," she blurts out, glancing to him with her angry expression. "I get that you need to get away from Dean. He's an ass and if anyone else can understand that it's me. But I'm not an ass, Sam. At least not to you."

"Of course not," Sam confirms, hurt that she'd have to say this to him.

"But if you leave you're getting away from me too!" Lizzy nearly shouts as she hopes it doesn't wake Dean right now. "I've tried so hard, so fucking hard to get you to stay. You need your family with you right now after everything that happened."

"You still think I'm gonna fall of the wagon or whatever?" Sam questions her, upset that she'd assume he hasn't overcome his addiction.

"Maybe," Lizzy says, knowing it's hurting him to hear that she thinks that way but she can't lie to him, especially not now. "I just worry all the time about everything… about both of you. I know how strong you are, Sam, I do. But how can I not worry when I care about you so much?"

"But you're not my mother, Lizzy. I am an adult and I've been one for a while now. I can take care of myself."

"Dude, come on! I know that," she says with annoyance. "But this is who I am. I want to help and be there for you but if you leave I can't do that. I don't care about the weird attracted to me thing either. I want you around. We  _both_  need you around. Plus… who the fuck is gonna help me when Michael comes after your brother?"

Sighing loudly, Lizzy's shoulders slump as Sam considers her question.

"Please, Sam," she glances at him with pathetic and scared eyes. "This is big, bigger than either of us has ever seen. I'm fucking terrified her and I don't think I can do this on my own."

Looking at her, her helplessness and desperation so strong in her at the moment. She never lets her guard down like this, ever. She means it. She wants him to stick around.

"I'll do what I can," Sam says to her, just like he did a few days earlier.

"That's all I'll ever ask of you."

The first comfortable silence descends upon the rolling Impala since they left. Lizzy smiles slightly with the little bit of comfort she gets from his tentative promise and Sam gears up to handle more brotherly hatred in the days ahead.

"Can you put on your IPod?" Lizzy asks. "I need a break from the old school stuff for once. What do you have for me?"

Reaching into the duffel at his feet, Sam happily connects it to the transmitter. "You ever heard of Jason Manns?"

"Dude!" Lizzy looks over to him with wide eyes. "I fucking love Jason Manns

* * *

!"


	28. Wearin' and Tearin'

* * *

One very long day later and the hunters arrive at Singer Salvage a little after noon time. The second the Impala is in park, Lizzy shoves out of the passenger side. She's more than ready to get the hell out of that stifling situation and see the man she's been more than worried about since they left him at the hospital.

The new wooden ramp that's been constructed leading into the side door of the house is jarring to see for all three when they pause while walking up to it. It's a loud and clear reminder that Bobby isn't going to be the same guy anymore, not physically nor mentally. This was a massive change in his life and sadly it isn't a good one.

"Shit, man," Lizzy mutters as she looks the ramp over with her hands on her hips. "This is so fucked up."

"He's gonna be a peach, ain't he?" Dean comments, knowing just how grumpy the old man is going to be when they walk through that door.

"Wouldn't you be?" Sam adds as he grabs all three bags from the trunk, tossing Dean his with a little too much force, making Dean grimace. They both are far past tired of each other at this point.

Lizzy rushes up the ramp and puts on a brave, happy face despite her concern. "Bobby!?" she shouts into the now open side door.

"Yeah… in here," she hears the downtrodden response coming from the study.

"Booooobbyyyyy!" Lizzy starts singing a made up song as she dances goofily into the kitchen. "I've missed youuuuuu!"

"The hell is wrong with you?" Bobby asks with absolute annoyance as he backs out of his desk and wheels around the furniture to greet them. He used to pretend to be annoyed by her antics. Now he really is annoyed.

"Bobby!" Lizzy says, dramatically slow-motion jogging across the kitchen to meet him. She leans over his chair and starts kissing him rapidly several times in a row on the cheek.

"Yer getting' your spit all over me!" Bobby complains and pushes her away.

"How you doing?"

"Fucking great," he sarcastically answers. "Though I should be asking you the same thing."

"I'm a-ok now that Rina took care of everything. I think I might be in love with that woman."

"If only I could be so lucky," Dean quickly remarks as he walks into the room, sending her a quick smirk.

"I'm gonna have to remember her. She sounds helpful to know. Boys." Bobby nods to Sam and Dean as they join them.

"How you feeling Bobby?" Sam asks immediately.

"Like a million freakin' bucks. You idjits ready to get this over with?" he asks Lizzy and Sam as he moves to the desk to grab the manila envelope on it. "Here. Sign and date."

Sam grabs the envelope and pulls out the small stack of papers. He grabs a pen and eagerly signs away while hoping that this will make things better in the long run for his brother and him. He always felt there was a weird grudge Dean held over him with this legal-but-never-actually-happened marriage to Lizzy. Even though he did nothing wrong, that paper license proclaiming them as wedded was more than enough for Dean, like Sam somehow beat him to the punch.

"You're up," Sam says to her as he passes the pen over. Taking it, Lizzy wipes away some fake tears.

"You know, I never thought we'd end up like this," she says up to Sam in a faux-choked up voice as he can't help but grin at her display. "I thought we'd make it, you know? I can't believe it's all ending this way."

"You're ridiculous."

"Oh hold me Sam, once more for old times' sake?" She hugs him in while fake crying and Sam just shakes his head with the antics though he's glad to see she's back to her version of goof-ball normal after that curse is long gone.

"Such a nut-job, you know that?" Dean tells her as he walks past the two of them on his way to the stairs so he can drop their bags in the spare rooms.

"And you're no fun!" she shouts up to him as she leans down to sign the document. " _I_  thought it was funny." Name and date complete she looks over to Bobby. "Done?"

"Done. I'll just have Don file it away and make it official."

"Well it was good run we had there," Sam jests while holding out his hand.

"That it was my friend," Lizzy grins while shaking his hand. The symbolism is not the least bit lost on her. She has a distinct feeling that Rina was able to help Sam out with his misplaced feelings for her and this annulment just happened to come at the perfect timing to literally seal the deal. Hopefully she's right about that.

"Well alright dudes, I need to head into town to pick up some stuff to make dinner," she announces. " _Miss_  Noonan owes a certain Mr. Winchester a dinner."

"You do?" Sam asks, not remembering why he's owed such a treat.

"You pin me, I make Lou's chicken parm…" she reminds and Sam's eyes light up when he remembers.

"Oh crap. I forgot all about that. But you said it was a draw!"

"Yeah, just I suck at admitting defeat."

"What's this about?" Bobby questions, not following their conversation.

"I made a wager while sparring the other day," Lizzy explains. "If Sam could pin me, I had to make him dinner."

"And do my laundry," Sam quickly adds.

"Yeah, I was hoping you'd forget that second part…" Lizzy smiles wide to him with a slight grimace before turning back to Bobby. "Anyways, I got pinned."

"You did?" Bobby asks with a little surprise. "You're getting rusty, kid. What is this?"

"I know," Lizzy admits within a complaint and a disgusted face. "Maybe you can help me with that while I'm here, huh?"

"Not sure if you forgot or nothing," Bobby says angrily as he gestures to his immobile legs.

"Fuck legs," Lizzy tells him immediately. "Legs don't hold fighting knowledge. You're brain does. Just come out back and tell me what I'm doing wrong."

"Not gonna be the same."

"It's never gonna be the same, sensei. But you're still my sensei. I need you."

"You don't need me, Liz," Bobby lowly states in a sad tone while wheeling past her into the kitchen to grab his whiskey. "Not anymore." He never let himself realize the extent of this affliction he's stuck with. No more car work for the most part, no real hunting, and now it's going to take his bonding time with Lizzy away? God damn it. Literally.

"Hey!" Lizzy jogs to stand in front of him and stop him from moving on. Looking up at her with absolute dislike for her tactics, he feels like a child again being scolded by his own mother. "Listen to me good,  _Robert_. I  _do_  need you. You're practically all I have left. Just because you roll around now instead of walk sure doesn't makes me love you any less. Or need you any less either."

"You're a pain in my ass,  _Elizabeth_ ," Bobby returns after a beat while glaring at her.

"A pain in your ass that will never go away so get fucking used to having someone give a shit about you, old man," she promises to him while grabbing the whiskey she assumes he was headed for. "So I expect to see you outside, ready to go, bright and early as usual, just like when I'd come out here… with Louie…." She still stumbles on her words whenever mentioning her best friend and sister. It's still a long road ahead for her.

"Alright, alright," Bobby finally relents. "Leave me alone and I'll do what I can for you in the morning."

"Hell yeah you will," Lizzy returns while pour out four glasses.

"And don't be getting drunk as a skunk tonight neither," Bobby warns her. "I've been ditched for a hangover more times than I care ta' count."

"I barely get hungover anymore so problem solved." Lizzy hands each of them a glass.

"Don't wear that fact as such a freakin' badge of honor, smartass." Bobby takes a hefty sip. "You need to tone it down before your liver shits the bed too early. You too, dumbass," he says to Dean as he comes into the room, happily taking up the glass Lizzy holds out for him.

"Fuck that," Dean answers while taking an impressive sip. "Ah. It's one of the only things we've got left in this world Bobby. Let us at least have this."

"Morons, I swear," Bobby complains roughly while wheeling away to return to his research.

Lizzy pours the remainder of her drink down her throat in one big gulp. "Ahh. Alright, I'm outta here. I need to get stuff for dinner. I'll see you later." Lizzy presses up on her toes and kisses Dean once while reaching into his jacket pocket. She jingles the Impala's keys with a grin before heading out the side door.

Once she was gone and Bobby was back into this research, Sam and Dean sip their drinks quietly while looking around the room awkwardly. Is this really what they've become? Has Dean's irritancy and mistrust gotten so strong that they can't be in the same room together without it being weird?

"I'm gonna go work on Bobby's car," Dean quietly announces while pouring the copious amount to booze still left in his glass down his gullet to get out of the room sooner. "Hasn't been touched in a while."

"Yeah… ok," Sam says equally as quiet. He watches Dean hightail it out of the kitchen and sighs. This isn't going to get better and he certainly doesn't have the patience to deal with Dean's never ending lack of interest in him or judging eyes.

He's going to need to get out for a while. It worked for Lizzy back when she found out she was Dean's perfect woman and hopefully it will work for him too. He just has to leave this. He can't handle it at all anymore. Maybe there is no going back after all. Maybe this is just life now. He'd give anything to go back, to take it all back, but he can't just magically make it happen.

Sam really hopes Lizzy doesn't kill him when he leaves for a while…

* * *

"I think you're just tired, kiddo."

After one more solid yet not really great punch thrown, Lizzy shoots an angry look over at Bobby while out in the scrapyard early the next day. They've been out there all morning, running drills and working hard to get Lizzy back in killer fighting form. She hated that Sam got the upper hand so easily with her the other day and she's doing everything she can to get back on track. For whatever reason, however, she's just not with it. She isn't her old self.

"I'm always tired," she spits back to him as he sits in his wheelchair off to the side. She pops her hands on her hips and glares at him next to the makeshift punching bag Bobby made years ago. Really it's just a large potato sack filled with sand, but who was questioning it? "That's no excuse."

"You're right, it isn't," Bobby agrees. "But I'm not just talkin' sleep tired here."

"Well that's about the only tired I can afford to be right now," Lizzy tries to head him off at the pass and avoid the conversation he's attempting to have with her. She turns away to grab her water but Bobby keeps going.

"Liz, you're running on empty hon. You're been working nonstop and I'm sure the chuckle heads haven't been none too easy on you neither. They never are."

Lizzy ignores him and takes a long sip of water but as she does, she decides what the hell. Even if it feels like she's tattling on them to their father, she needs to let it all out. She's been using the Dean-method of dealing which is shoving everything down deep and attempting to forget about it all and instead of working, it's killing her.

"You know what, Bobby. You're right. Fuck this. I  _hate_  this," she tells him, tossing her bottle to the ground with hatred. "Seeing the two of them like this, it's wrong. I mean, Sam did this fucked up, world ending thing, I get that. I get why Dean's mad, I really do. Hell, I'm still mad myself. And I also get why Sam's pissed. Dean is so hard on him it's unreal. Those two are… fuck!" Her face wrinkles in pain.

"I'm sorry they're puttin' you through that," Bobby laments, never wanting to see her misplace the screwed up shit Sam and Dean have going on onto herself.

"It's not just that," Lizzy keeps going. The vault is opening and now her stress is spilling out at a rapid pace. "It's you. You're miserable, and you should be, but I want to fix it. I want to help you like I always do but this time I just don't know how. I can't magically get you up and walking again. I try to sleep at night and all I can think about is how I need to call you and make sure you're ok, or even alive. I swear I get so nervous that the Sioux Falls police department is gonna call us because you gave up one day over this. You can't do that! I can't have you do that to me, or to them."

"Liz…" Bobby worries as he tries to comfort her but she just keeps going.

"Then there's Dean. He's too much sometimes, you know? He takes every threat to either Sam or I as the worst fucking thing that's ever happened and he's gonna stroke out with the overprotective shit and the stress he puts on himself. And now, on top of that and all the crap still swimming around in his head put there by hell and his shitty life in general… he's still pissed off and suspicious of Sam constantly. God damn it, I love him, you know I do, but I can't handle everything sometimes, especially when it seems like I am the only one who wants him to work on making his life better. It's like he just doesn't give a shit if he lives an easier life or not. Why is he like that!?"

She pauses, fists balled and breathing heavy with anger.

"And Sam, holy fuck," Lizzy shakes her head. "What a disaster. He's carries the guilt of what he's done, of letting the devil outta the box, with professionalism. He bottles it so tight that the second we have a hunt, he uses the excuse to let it out and, fuck, is he scary when he does! He scares the living shit outta me now more than before, more than when he was chugging demon blood. And he's still mourning Lou and then his fucked up head decided to look at me the way he has lately…"

"What's that mean?" Bobby wonders as Lizzy realizes her mistake.

"It means nothing. I just… Bobby I can't," Lizzy's voice goes up an octave when her voice gets choked. "I'm supposed to protect Dean from God knows what and then let him go… I don't even know what that means! And how the hell do I protect Dean Winchester!? That's insane! And let him go and get possessed by an angel? Why would anyone assume I'd do that!?"

"They clearly don't know you and that relationship too well," Bobby answers with just a slight hint of levity.

"Right!?" Lizzy realizes she's been pacing around in a circle as she's letting her own bottled up shit out. "I'm scared I'm gonna lose him again, Bobby. I can't go through that, not again. I won't be able to. The angels want him but fuck… I can't do that. What if they get their way? What if they take him and he never comes back, like the dude Cas is riding? I _need_  him."

She takes a moment to compose herself once the tears make their way down her cheeks in utter desperate frustration. Wiping them away crudely with the back of her tape-wrapped hand, Lizzy huffs a loud breath or two. She never realized just how full her plate was until this moment.

"I miss Lou so fucking much," Lizzy asks to her father figure, looking at him with deep sorrow. She puts her hands on her hips and stands tall, her posture defying her crumbling state. "I've never needed her more in my entire life. If she was here I could make it through this, find a way. She'd help me. God damn it, why does she have to be gone?"

Lizzy covers her face with her hands and cries. She's been so focused on looking out for both Sam and Dean in the past few months that she doesn't realize until now that she's completely neglected herself in the process. She's a living, breathing disaster.

Bobby's heart breaks for her. He knows all she been through and it's more than any human could ever think to handle. He pushes his wheels across the gravel lot until he's right next to her and grabs her hand. Bobby's not a physical, lovey-dovey kind of guy, but Lizzy is. So he stows his macho shit for a quick second and does what he can.

"Take a seat," Bobby tells her and Lizzy looks at him with surprise. He's never like this. Ever. "Do it before I change my mind, huh?"

His tone is one she knows well. It's his 'don't fuck with me, kid' tone. Lizzy takes a seat on his lap, swinging her legs up over one of the armrests until she's sitting sideways. Bobby brings his arms around her and hugs her in, Lizzy resting her head on his shoulder, his beard against her forehead.

"Used to sit like this when Sam had nightmares as a kid," Bobby recalls fondly. "Poor little guy had more nightmares than good dreams, I swear. Then after, if John was on the road and Dean was still conked out, I'd sit with him just like this until he was able to fall asleep again." He runs a hand down her hair and sighs with the memory. Hard to believe that kid was so small and helpless once.

"You've been so good to all of us," Lizzy says in her cry-choked voice.

"And you put too much pressure on yourself, Liz. Sam and Dean… their issues ain't yours."

"But they don't deal with them. They just let the problems fester," Lizzy sadly says, her frame still curled up against him.

"And that's not your fault." Bobby shakes his head. He could kill those kids for this one. "They're grown men… when they sometimes act it that is. If they can't work out their own differences then that's their problem. You just do what you can to be there for them and let them figure out the rest."

Lizzy nods her head.

"As for me, don't you worry. I'm not going nowhere, not when the world needs savin'. Would never leave you three idjits to fix it on your own. You'd never make it through without me."

"Damn straight," Lizzy sniffles.

"I know how much it hurts, kid," Bobby continues. "Losing Karen, that never has gone away. And it won't. Lou is still there in your heart and that ain't budgin'. You just have to figure out how to live with it."

"I love her. It hurts so bad still."

"And it's gonna. You just have to find a better place to be with it. An accepting place. That's all you have left. You have to accept what happened so that you can function."

Only nodding her head, Lizzy realizes how right he is. She does need to accept that Lou is gone. She has to find a way to be in a good place about Lou turning, about Lou being killed in front of her, and about it being her fault that Lou got turned at all. She's yet to forgive herself for that and she's pretty sure she never will.

"Thanks," Lizzy quickly says while wiping her eyes. She kisses his cheek and stands up, trying to shake off the sorrow. "Think I needed that."

"You did," Bobby grumbles. "You know those two are always gonna be so wrapped up in themselves and each other that you might fall by the wayside sometimes. I saw it in you the second you got here and they should have seen it too. If you need help, you ask for it. They ain't gonna offer."

"Things I already know," Lizzy huffs a quiet laugh.

"Hey!" Dean calls over to them as he approaches, boots crunching on the gravel as he picks up his pace once she sees him.

"Awesome," Lizzy sarcastically says, wiping her eyes one last time to get rid of the evidence. He'll be too concerned if he knows she's been crying.

"I think you need a little more training time," Bobby says lightly as he turns his chair back toward the house. "You might need to do some extra work out here, let out your frustrations. You know, really lay into something… or someone."

He winks at her and Lizzy smiles.

"Kick his ass good huh? I expect bruises." Bobby begins making his way back into the house, sharing a quick 'good luck' with Dean as they pass each other. With a confused look, Dean walks the rest of the way over.

"Been out here all morning," Dean comments when he nearly reaches her. He extends a hand and gives her a bottle of water he brought out for her. "Figured you'd be running on empty soon."

"Thank you," Lizzy says, genuinely surprised by his kind gesture. It's been a while.

"You ok?" Dean asks, seeing her conflicted state.

"I will be," Lizzy nods as she puts down her new water and turns to look at him. "After I beat you into the ground."

Dean lifts his eyebrows and smirks. "Excuse me?"

"Come on, Hot Shot," Lizzy says while gesturing for him to bring it on. "It's been a shitty few months. I need this. Come at me, bro."

Dean stands, hands on his hips, and stares at her. "What's going on with you?"

"Don't start that shit with me," she answers with annoyance. "You never answer that question truthfully when I ask it so don't ask me that right now. I'm fucking stressed, the men in my life are making me nuts, and let me tell you, I want to pummel someone. Since you're the one who told me no more bar fights, this is all I got."

"So in order to be ok you need to beat me up?" Dean asks. "Healthy relationship we've got here."

"Oh my God, stop being such a fucking pussy and let's go!" Looking at him with expectation, he knows now that even if he refuses, she'll probably still attack him.

"Alright," Dean gives in as he takes his green army jacket off and tosses it onto the nearest rusted out car. Clearly she needs some kind of release here that the usual sex isn't gonna take care of. "But don't cry to me when you get hurt."

"Right back at ya', Hot Shot. Let's go."

* * *

"Son of a bitch!" Dean complains as he walks through the side door of the house with a hand covering his left eye.

"Stop complaining," Lizzy brushes off. "It's just a black eye."

"Yeah, that  _you_  gave me!"

"So I got a little carried away, so what?"

"A little!?" Dean's raised voice asks as his anger level is growing by the second. He plops down into a chair at the kitchen table heavily and with an annoyed grunt.

"You told me not to cry if I got hurt…"

"And you didn't!"

"I know, because  _you_  did. So no whining."

"What the hell is going on?" Bobby's loud tone calls out over the bickering two when he joins them in his kitchen.

"Dean's a little upset because I clocked him good out there," Lizzy explains in an even voice as she grabs a bag of frozen peas from Bobby's freezer. They must have been there a while because she has to drop the bag on the floor to break apart the small vegetables that had frozen together in one hard mass.

"Oh yeah?" Bobby asks while rolling up next to Dean and pulling his hand away for a look. His eye is already swelling up. "Oh yeah. She got you real good."

"You think!?"

"Hey, don't get mad at her," Bobby scolds the man. "You're the one who obviously gave her an opening. That's your fault."

"Shut up," Dean grumbles as he harshly grabs the bag from Lizzy's offering hand and brings it to his face.

"You tell me to shut up again and I'll make sure you got a matching set, boy."

"Dean," Lizzy starts as she sits across from him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you that hard."

"Bullshit, L. You were out for blood."

"Maybe," she nods, knowing it was true. "But I didn't want you to get hurt. I honestly got carried away."

"Perhaps if she didn't have so much stress in her life from the others around her, she wouldn't have to deck the people most important to her in order to cope."

Lizzy hides her smile but Dean just glares at Bobby with his accusation.

"So this is my fault!?" he asks Bobby with outrage.

"I'm just makin' an observation…" Bobby answers quietly while moving back into the study to stay out of the fight.

Sitting quietly, Lizzy and Dean just look at each other. Lizzy has regret in her eyes while Dean's are still filled with anger and a little bit of confusion. Reaching across the table Lizzy slides her hand in top of his free one.

"I really am sorry," she tells him, this time without the pride and smug attitude. She's being completely sincere.

"It's fine," he squeezes her hand as he gives in a little, his anger finally calming. She'd never do such a thing under normal circumstances and he has to admit, she hasn't had an easy life to live lately.

"Is that the Winchester definition of fine, or the real definition?"

Peering at her with his uncovered eye, he sees the small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth and he can't help but forgive her.

"Real."

"Good."

"But you owe me now."

"Oh do I?" Lizzy full out smiles at him.

"Absolutely."

Lizzy leans over the table and brings her face closer to him. "And how do you suppose I'm gonna make it up to you?" Her voice is low and coated with sex. He takes a second to think it over.

"We're going for a drive tonight."

"Uh, ok…" Lizzy says with hesitation. She was expecting something more along the lines of Nurse Noonan helping mend his wounds, or possibly Tough School Master Mrs. Noonan since he really seems to enjoy her, but a drive?

"Trust me," Dean tells her.

With an eye roll, she answer, "Always do, don't I?"

* * *

 


	29. Here I Go Again

* * *

"Where are we?" Lizzy asks as the car comes to a stop in the middle of a darkened dirt road a few miles from Bobby's yard. There's only one street light on the short, dead end stretch of backwoods street and Dean parks right underneath it.

"We are at a little road that I know for a fact no one ever comes down." Dean grins reassuringly at her.

"And how did you come across this little road of yours?"

"Doesn't matter," Dean pushes aside. No need to get into the story of the drunk chick he brought here while visiting Bobby and on Hell's most wanted list. Didn't seem like the right timing. "Point is, we're all alone out here. And you owe me." Shit eating grin firmly in place, he knows she's still feeling bad for getting a little over zealous earlier.

"Yes I do," she smiles as she crawls over the few feet between them in the front seat. She brushes her fingers across the now blackened skin around his eye before bringing her lips to his and kissing him with all intentions of getting things going. The moment's perfect. They were by themselves, the Doors were playing on the radio, and they were in a comfortable, familiar place. In her eyes, time to get down to business.

"Wait," Dean stops her and gently pushes her by the shoulders until she's back in her seat. "Get out."

"Of the car?" she asks in half laugh.

"No, the spaceship. Yeah, the car. Get out." Dean ejects the tape currently running. "And give me your IPod."

With a leery look his way, Lizzy reaches into her jacket pocket for her prized possession and hands it over with hesitation.

"Ok, now… out. And leave the door open."

She does as he asks, standing at the side of the car.

"Stand in front of the car!" Dean calls out through the open door as he connects the IPod to the transmitter he now somewhat begrudgingly keeps in the glove box. Finding the exact song he was looking for, he looks out the windshield to see her looking in at him while the headlights illuminate her form.

Smiling huge, Dean hopes she's left her shame back at Bobby's. She decked him good and he's gonna cash in on this little deal big time. He presses play and waits for her reaction.

"You're kidding right?" she asks with distain the second she hears the intro start of White Snake's 'Here I Go Again'.

"Not at all," Dean says to her as he leans out the driver's side window so she can hear him. "Come on, Tawny Kitaen. Get your ass up on the car."

"That's the fucking lamest thing you've ever asked me to do," Lizzy says with a serious face, though Dean swears there's a hint of a smile on her lips. If that's true, he can make this work.

"Lame? No way! You do this, you're like officially the most amazing chick that ever lived."

"I'm already the most amazing chick that ever lived, dumb-dumb," she challenges with her arms crossed over her chest.

Ok, she got him there. "Just imagine how much you'll pull ahead of the rest if you make a young man's dream come true like this."

"There's a young man here!?" Lizzy jokingly asks while rapidly searching around the area. "Where!?" She checks under the car before a slick smile spreads across her lips.

"Ha-fucking-ha," Dean mocks. "I get it. You're too shy to do it. I mean, you say you were a dancer for most of your life, yet I've never seen you do much. Hell, you could be lying for all I know."

"Reverse psychology isn't gonna work on me, Hot Shot." Lizzy lifts an eyebrow. Alright, she does kinda want to do it deep down. Once in a lifetime right? She just wishes she drank more before they left. A good buzz would have made this way more fun… and a little easier.

"Ok then, do it for my eye. It still hurts like a bitch and looking at something like that would really make it feel better." He gives her the same pouty face she always give him when asking for something that she thinks she'll get denied and she roll she eyes.

"Now I'm not too sure how worth it hitting you was," Lizzy says with a contradictory smile as she shrugs out of her jacket. She tosses it on the ground as Dean settles back into his seat.

"Holy shit, it worked," he says quietly to himself as his eyes are glued to her. Lizzy, in her long-sleeved Henley and torn up, tight, faded blue jeans tucked into her black combat boots, begins her crawl up the hood of the car towards him, taking her time and being borderline-corny with it. She couldn't resist.

Once she makes it up to the windshield right in front of Dean, she leans forward and presses her lips to the glass, sending him a kiss and a wink as she turns sideways. Lying on her back across the car where the hood meets the bottom of the windshield, she stretches out her body. Taking her time, moving slowly and arching her back with her arms above her head, she turns slowly to meet his gaze. The lusty grin on his face paired with the green glint in his eyes are enough. Already worth it.

"Oh…. Yeah…." Dean drawls out as Lizzy grasps the bottom of her shirt and peels it up over her head and off. As it drops to the ground down the side of the car, she arches her back once more as she slowly sits up, her head dropped back as she does. She unlaces her boots and kicks them off, followed by her socks. Wanting to do this right, she keeps on going. If she was going to pull off some 80's rock video moves, tight jeans just aren't going to cut it.

Lying back once more, she looks back at Dean as she runs her hands down her body, starting with her bra-covered breasts and working down her stomach. She lets her fingers dip quickly under the top of her pants, watching Dean lean forward over the steering wheel for a better look, before unbuttoning them. She pushes her hips high in the air, her feet and upper back the only things touching the car, and she lowers her jeans down over her hips, slowing over her ass just a little, before sitting up to completely get rid of them.

"Oh my God," Dean once more talks to himself, his pants feeling a bit tighter than they had just been moments before. "Still don't deserve her."

Once only wearing her black booty short panties, the kind Dean loved because her ass cheeks peeked out so perfectly from them, and her black bra that framed her just so damn well, she rolls onto her side, her head propped up casually by her arm and her top leg bent in front of her, she send him a sexy little smile.

"How'm I doing?" she asks through the windshield.

"L, you're doing awesome."

She smiles wide with his clear enjoyment and moves to crawl up the windshield until she disappears from Dean's view onto the roof. He's only confused for a split second. Before he knows it, her legs are coming through the open driver's side window. She drops down into his lap once she makes it back into the car. She straddles him and laughs a little when she sits on the steering wheel on her way, causing it to honk. Once settled nicely in his lap, she grabs the sides of his neck and aggressively pulls him in, her lips landing hard onto his. Ok, so maybe this wasn't just for Dean after all. There was always something hot to her about the way Dean's eyes would watch her. He tends to look at her a certain way when they were alone, a way that melted her completely, a way that made her want him. And most importantly, a way that made her want to get at least a little naughty with it most of the time.

"Mm, sorry," Lizzy apologizes when she finally ends the kiss. "Couldn't stay away. The way you were staring at me… damn." She reaches behind herself to unhook her bra.

"Yeah, I don't care," Dean very quickly says and pulls her back in by a hand on the back of her head, his lips finding her neck. She slips her bra off while pressed against him and instantly his mouth was on her chest. Moaning loudly with the feel of his tongue circling her nipple and his hand grabbing her other breast, Lizzy's hips grind down onto his lap with need.

"Oh yes!" she shouts when 'Talk Dirty to Me' starts playing loudly and she backs away. "My 'Sing It from the Hair' playlist?" Her eyes are wide and bright with excitement.

"Seemed only appropriate." Dean looks her over, her lips swollen from her harsh kisses and wearing next to nothing, her perfect breasts practically staring him in the eye. He sighs. It is possible to be happy in the midst of the Apocalypse… who knew?

"I can't let a good song go to waste," she grins out with a little edge as she starts to lean out the driver's side window, hoisting herself up and out. Once she's disappeared onto the Impala's roof again, she leans over the edge so just her head is in the window upside-down. "You know the view from out here is a little better. You should probably come out."

She disappears again and Dean cranks the volume and opens the door. Shutting it behind him, he looks up at her. She's sitting on the roof, legs hanging down over the windshield and spread apart, as she leans forward and stares him down hungrily.

"Stand in front of the car."

Walking over as she asks, Dean never takes his eyes off of her. The yellow glow of the streetlight casts down on her, making shadows play across her skin as she moved. It's been over two and a half years since he's met her, over a year of being with her nearly every day. He's never gotten tired of her or her body, not for a second. In fact he's never wanted her more. The days go by and he finds himself pulled even harder toward her. The sun sets and he swears he loves her more than when the sun came up that very morning. For the first time he thinks that maybe he didn't get himself in too deep with her. He used to be worried about that, about how invested he was becoming in her and how one woman held so much power over him. Now, well now he doesn't feel a need to fight it. He knows she's got him in the palm of her hand and, shockingly, he's ok with that.

"It's fucking freezing out," Lizzy smirks to him. "You're lucky I love you."

"Only been lucky once in my life," Dean admits to her with a genuine smile.

"Or maybe it's just blessed," she laughs, finally coming to terms with the whole angel-molding she went through during her formative years.

"Angels do seem to have a way of making fucking awesome women, don't they?"

"That they do," Lizzy returns with that same, sexy little smile from before and turns around on her bottom, her back facing him with her bent legs apart before she raises her arms high in the air. Arching her back, she lowers herself in a backbend, her hands touching the windshield first, followed by her head and back. As she lays down over the glass, Lizzy brings her legs up into the air, straightening them together before opening them wide. Once her legs are out to her sides, level with her hips in a perfect center split, Dean audibly groans.

"God damn," he mutters to himself. He knows she's flexible but seeing this, her legs in a one hundred and eighty degree angle, an upside-down straddle, it's too damn good. He's never pushed her this far. He definitely should have by now.

Lizzy brings her hands down the sides of her face and neck. She drags them down over her bare breasts and sides, over her hips, and around her inner thighs before closing her legs again, her hands trapped between them. She rolls over onto her stomach and swings her legs in the air behind her for a moment before she begins crawling down the windshield.

"Ok, this is fun," she admits with a wide, toothy smile as she follows Dean eyes. They seem to be restless. He can't pick one single part of her to look at when so much of it is on display.

"Yeah…" is all Dean can get out as Lizzy flips her hair in the corniest, 80's music video way she can. Corny or not, it was working for him.

As Lizzy giggles she turns sideways, slowly moving into a split across the hood.

"There's your Classic Tawny Kitaen shit right there."

"I forgot a camera," Dean scolds himself while watching her. "Why didn't I bring a camera?"

Laughing at him again, she twists her hips so that her side split is now suddenly a straddle spilt. Walking her hands forward towards him, he lets her legs swing behind her as she crawls to him. Scooting her legs underneath her, she sits up on her knees at the very end of the hood.

"Come here," she says to him. Dean closes the few steps between them and Lizzy pull him in. She kisses him with urgency as 'Photograph' starts blaring into the night, knowing how much he must need the contact by now. That's exactly why when he grabs her by the backs of her thighs and pulls forward, her legs coming out from under her and quickly getting her on her back on the edge of the car, she isn't surprised in the least.

"I want you so fucking bad right now," Dean tells her, quickly leaning forward to leave one more burning kiss on her lips as he grabs the sides of her underwear. Standing upright again, he yanks the last of her clothing off with driven force before reaching frantically for the button and zipper of his pants.

"Love when you get crazy like this," Lizzy says as she bends her elbows underneath her, propping her upper back up to watch him with an excited look in her eyes. "You always fuck me so good when you're all worked up."

"Legs out to the sides like before," Dean tells her impatiently, the demanding tone in his voice making her shiver with want. She listens, bringing her legs together and extending them straight up with all good intentions of making it slow and sexy. For him, however, she's taking far too long. Once his pants and boxer briefs are in a crumpled heap around his calves, he grabs her ankles and roughly pushes her legs apart, extending them once more straight out to the sides.

The moan of absolute pleasure she makes when he quickly thrusts into her makes a smile creep across his face. As quickly as it showed up, it was gone as the dark expression of carnal need comes right back.

Grabbing onto her inner thighs and pressing them down into the hood of his beloved car, Dean begins pushing into her fast and hard with his intense need. What she just did for him, literally fulfilling his unspoken fantasy he's had since he was just a boy and saw MTV for the first time, has pushed him further than he's been pushed by her in a long time. Ever since he got the eighties images in his head of hot cars and hot women it was lodged in there. Now he might just be glad to get rocked in the eye by the love of his life. This would never have happened otherwise.

"Oh yeah," Lizzy's labored voice calls up to him, her eyes slammed shut as her head has fallen back behind her. "So fucking good."

"Fuck L. Turn me on so much," Dean grits out, his jaw clenching.

Lizzy lets out a shameless moan into the night air, one that shocks him to his core. She sounded so amazing, and he did that to her. It still thrills him that he has that ability.

"You like that, huh?" Dean asks down to her, her body rocking back and forth with his thrusts.

"So much," she answers immediately, voice nearly choked with the activity. It was a question that needed no second thought. "Dean, I love it so much."

Grabbing onto his forearms, she groans while looking up at him, his face serious and eyes narrowed in concentration. He's unleashing on her, and it's fine. They did this now and then, played it a little rough when life seemed impossible. Lately, however, rough seemed to be the only game in town. Stress is a hell of a thing.

"I want to see that ass," Dean tells her in a thick, jagged voice while pulling out of her and lifting her up by the arms. She hops down from the car and stands in front of him, looking up with complete devotion. Grabbing his face immediately, she attacks his mouth, her tongue seeking his right away. He kisses her back while toeing off his boots. Once off, he kicks out of his pants and reaches down hastily to free his feet. Leaning away to end their kiss, he turns her around by the shoulders until she's facing the car.

"Bend over, show me you ass," he demands while smacking his hand onto her left cheek hard, prompting her to lean forward. Once Lizzy has her hands and elbows pressed to the shining black paint of the Impala, Dean runs his hands over her curves. "Shake it."

With an erotic little laugh, she shakes her hips along with Van Halen's 'Feel Your Love Tonight' as Dean's hands absorb the feel of her smooth, perfect cheeks, the ones that he salivates over day in and day out, vibrating under his palms. She was unreal. Un-fucking-real.

"Get your knee on the hood," Dean tells her while slapping hard on her right cheek and she yelps with excitement. He watches her do exactly as he asks by lifting her right leg until her bent knee rests on the car, giving him better access. Thank God Lizzy got past her pain/pleasure hesitance he thinks to himself. Once he spanked her that one time at the strip club in Vegas, she's changed. Her trust in him and obvious need to feel like she's being punished, like she somehow deserves the pain, has stopped her from leaving any form of physical suffering out of her sex life since she felt she was getting hurt enough on the job to completely embracing it. It ended up being a new kind of release for her, a way to let out some of the guilt and burden she carries every day while being with someone she has absolute faith in, who makes her feel safe.

"Fuck me good, baby," Lizzy asks over her shoulder, desperate for more, as Dean plants his right foot on the chrome bumper.

"Oh, I'll fuck you good," he promises to her, pressing into her hard while grabbing her hips.

"Oh God," Lizzy breathes out immediately once he's inside her, her head falling forward with the wonderful aggression he's showing her.

Dean lets go of her hip with his left hand to twist it into her hair. He pulls until she's standing tall with an arched back, just her fingertips left touching the hood. Her face is tilted to the starry night sky as he speaks into her ear.

"I'm gonna fuck you so good, baby." Dean's eyes are darkened as she moans her appreciation for his words. She peers at him out of the corner of her eyes as he keeps talking to her. "I'm gonna get you going until you make those noises I love, the ones that tell me I'm fucking you so good that you're gonna come."

"Dean. Please," Lizzy asks of him, needing everything he's promising to her as he continues to work into her with a burning fire inside him. "Oh please."

"Begging already?" Dean grins to himself while letting her hair go. Lizzy leans back over the hood of his much loved car, moaning louder as he works her up. He really should have brought his two favorite girls together like this so much sooner.

Pressing a hand into the hood at her side and bending down over her, Dean reaches a hand around Lizzy's front, stopping briefly to grab her breast on the way to its destination. As she pants out a string of words in no particular order, she lets out a sound of utter gratitude when she feels him reach lower, his fingers landing between her legs.

"Oh! Ooh yeah," she groans with the added sensation while grabbing ahold of Dean's arm that's propping him up. Her nails digging into his skin, he knows she won't last much longer. Thank God, he thinks. He's barely holding on as it is.

"Come on, baby," he talks into her ear again as 'Wild Side' starts playing, his hand moving faster on her. "I want to see you lose it."

"Oh fuck… harder Dean. Please. Need it harder."

Standing upright, he brings the hand he'd been holding himself up with on the car hard onto her hip, making her yelp with the slightly stinging contact. "Only 'cause you asked nice."

With one hand grabbing hard onto her side and the other still working her closer to her end, Dean starts fucking hard into her, just as she so politely asked for.

"Oh fuck… fuck… fuck…" Lizzy repeats over and over as it all comes crashing down on her. "Dean! Oh shit! Dean!" As he watches her, her body tense and shouting out his name, he smiles to himself something completely dark. He can't see her face but he knows what it looks like. Her mouth dropped open, eyes screwed shut, cheeks glowing and brow furrowed. He knows that look so, so well. The image of it in his mind drives him further.

"Fucking amazing," Dean grits out as he keeps going, clutching her hips in both hands now.

"Ah, God," Lizzy sighs, pushing up on her hands with straight elbows and looking over her shoulder while catching her breath. "You see what you do to me?"

Dean stares her down, concentrating on her lips as she talks.

"Do you see how good you make me feel?" she says while licking her lips. "Oh baby, you make me fucking crazy."

He holds out just a little longer if he can as he loves when she starts talking too much to let her stop.

"Spank my ass."

His hand instantly lands on her right cheek with more force than before, making her call out with the impact.

"Fucking love that. You like that? You like taking control of me like that?"

"You know I do," Dean growls back.

"Bury that dick in me, Hot Shot. I fucking love it."

"Oh my God," Dean sighs out right before his fingers claw into her hips as he comes hard inside of her with the dirty words leaving her mouth. "Fuck, Lizzy! Damn it!"

Pumping into her a few more times, he rides it out before breathing out a hard breath. He leans forward, catching himself on his hands, one to each side of her, and leaning some of his weight onto her back.

"Holy shit, L." he huffs and he tries to find his breath with his eyes closed as he revels in the lasting effects of his orgasm. "Fucking… whoa."

Turning her head, she smiles warmly and kisses him something sweet and innocent. Dean has to stop himself from laughing. She just flipped the switch from his dirty little slut to the kind, loving girl he's insane about in a split second. With so many layers to her he wonders how long it will take him to get through them all.

"God damn it, you're awesome," Dean says in between kisses. "Fucking love you so much."

Lizzy just smiles and kisses him again while still leaning over his car. She'd do anything for him, and that's how this whole thing started. She owed him one and if he wanted this, she'd give it to him. Luckily he's so in tuned with her own sexual needs and wants that this turned out to be quite the treat for herself.

"We so need to do this again…"

* * *

 


	30. Drifting, Drifting, Drifting Along

* * *

"They already leave?" Sam asks Bobby as he comes into the study, laptop in hand, and takes a seat opposite him in a chair facing the desk. He realized how suddenly quiet the house got and assumed that they were off for the night like Dean warned him they would.

"Soon as dinner was cleaned up." Bobby marks the page he'd been reading through to give his full attention to the kid he hasn't seen in what feels like far too long.

"Say where they were going?"

"Knowing them, anywhere people ain't." He pours another glass of whiskey and looks at Sam, his expression silently asking if he'd like some too. Sam nods and Bobby makes him his own drink. "I gotta say, Sam, Liz sure came in here a busted up version of usual herself."

"Yeah, that gypsy curse really did a number on her," Sam returns as he takes a sip, making the same reactionary face he normally does after registering the first taste of the strong, bottom shelf stuff Bobby always bought. Lizzy got them onto the actual, name brand booze so now the stuff in plastic bottles just doesn't hold up.

"It's not just the curse and I think you know that."

Sam doesn't answer as he stares down at his glass. He knows where Bobby is going with this conversation already and he prepares for the fatherly guilt trip.

"I wondered if you two were gonna get your heads outta each other's asses in order to see it. Guess not." Bobby shakes his head with the sad truth. "The real reason Lizzy's an emotional jumble right now ain't because of some curse. It's because of you and your brother."

Sam makes a very hurt face as he hears the blame being put partially on himself for the first time.

"You two expect so much out of her but you forget that she's just one woman, a woman who didn't grow up in this like you did. She may be damn good at hunting and dealing with you two and your endless shit, but she's only been in this for a few years in comparison to us. The burden of you and Dean at odds with each other, the worry that you'll fall off the demonic wagon, the stress of Dean just bein' his pain in the ass self, the concern over me bein' laid up, the angel link… that's every day for her, Sam. It's a lot to handle and I think she's doing it pretty silently. And that's not even counting the Apocalypse, the threat on Dean's head…"

"And Lou," Sam speaks up. "I know she's still hurting over that. A lot."

"We all are." They both take a pause to drink down some hunter's helper in order to manage the pain they all still feel over that.

"You're right. She has a lot on her plate… maybe more than any of us." What a realization. Sam's guilt is now huge. He never wanted to put Lizzy through anything more than she already had to handle, but that's exactly what he and Dean did. It's too much and a large portion of that stress is from him. It's unfair and since he and Dean are masters at coping without talking they never talk to her much about things other than hunts. The only time they speak emotionally is when she yanks it out of them somehow. No one ever really asks how she's managing, if she is at all that is.

"I'm just asking that you two don't lose sight of her as a person. She makes a hell of a therapist but who does she have to talk to?"

"As of lately… shit, no one." They've been so self-centered, so completely absorbed into their own selves that she's seriously fallen by the wayside. Lizzy certainly doesn't deserve the back burner. How did he not see this?

"Liz has always been the caregiver first and foremost. She needs to know the people around her are ok and many times she neglects her own mental sanity for that."

"You're totally right, Bobby." Sam looks at the man with sadness. "She does that a lot now that I think of it. That why Dean came back from the yard with a shiner?"

"Maybe," Bobby huffs a quick laugh. "I told her she should take her frustrations out physically after we had a little talk. She was about to crack…"

"So instead she cracked Dean in the face," Sam laughs quietly, Bobby doing the same. "Knew I liked her."

"Me too, kid," Bobby says at the tail end of his laugh. "And I am certain he probably deserved it for something. He usually does."

Sam keeps quiet and nods his head.

"Sam, the best thing you could do to help Lizzy right now is to just be ok, for her sake." Bobby looks the younger hunter straight in the eye. " _Are_  you ok?"

Sam makes a decision for sure right then and there. He will make sure that he's ok, and that Lizzy in turn is ok too, and he knows just how to do it.

"I will be."

* * *

"I gotta say, you look good all up on my car, L," Dean tells her with a contented smile as he lays across the Impala, his back resting on the windshield and legs stretched out down the hood. "You got moves."

Lizzy turns her head to look at him while lying next to him, smile wide also. Once they got dressed they decided to stay out for a bit, enjoy their rare time together alone.

"Yeah, I know."

"Should have gotten my ladies together sooner. That was fucking… awesome."

"You totally should have brought a camera by the way," Lizzy smirks as she pulls the blanket from the backseat over them a little more to keep the cold night away. She cuddles into his side slightly closer and Dean's arm instinctively tightens around her shoulders.

"Seriously? You would've let me get photographic evidence that you're a little freak?"

"Don't you mean evidence that I'm the most amazing chick ever?"

"Same thing."

"Yeah, why not? Life is short. We need to have fun with it while we can."

"Touché."

"How's that eye feeling now?" Lizzy wonders as she reaches a hand to his face, her fingers running down the side of his eye while avoiding the dark and swollen bruising.

"Much better." Dean grins at her with an eyebrow lift, immediately followed by a wince with the movement.

"Dean, I'm really sorry about that," she tells him, the honesty coming clearly through her voice. "I know it seems super fucked up that I wanted to fight you…"

"Not normal relationship kinda stuff there, I'll admit."

"Since when are we normal?" Lizzy grumbles right back. "But I've been stressed to high hell lately and didn't know how else to let it out. Bobby suggested I spar a little with you to find some kind of relief but I never expected that I'd be that way… that bad."

"For the first time ever, you actually scared me." Dean looks away from the stars and looks over to her, the mental image of her serious and quite terrifying face still clear as day. "Should I be worried here?"

"Don't you worry enough?" Lizzy rolls her eyes.

"No, not if you need help."

Peering into his eyes, Lizzy shares a sad smile. She should talk to him, let it all out finally, but she just can't. He doesn't need to hear her bitch about life when his was just as fucked and awful. They both are stressed beyond reasonable levels and she doesn't have the heart to add any more than she has to for him.

"I'm ok," Lizzy assures with a quick kiss to his lips.

"You sure?" Dean asks once more, not really believing her.

"Honestly, I'll be fine. I just want to sit out here with you for a little longer before we go back if that's ok."

Knowing now for sure that she's lying, Dean lets her have her way. "Yeah. I'd love to do that." He really would. There's always something so perfect about being alone with her, feeling her next to him, that made him calm and content like nothing else has ever been able to do. If this was the moment he was meant to die for good, he'd do it with a smile on his face, that's for sure.

Her arm running around his waist under his shirt, Lizzy rests her head on his shoulder and looks up into the night. "I like being out here, under the stars. For once I feel small, like I don't matter in the grand scheme of things. Like I'm just another speck of dust that God doesn't look at or the angels don't really know exists. It feels good to not be important, even if it's just for a couple fleeting seconds."

"Insignificance." It's more of an understanding than a question. He did get exactly what she was talking about.

"Anonymity," she tacks on, running with the train of thought. "Comes complete with mundane problems like what color to paint the living room and who's driving to baseball practice. Boring, common, unimportant living. When I look up at the stars, that's what they feel like to me."

Pulling her tighter, Dean couldn't agree with her more.

* * *

"Spit it out, Sam," Dean impatiently asks of his brother while sitting at the random rest stop picnic table. They left Bobby's at the crack of dawn to investigate some missing people out in Ohio but once the two of them sat down and Lizzy was away from them, Sam's been rambling on about how he can't live the way they have been, about how he needs to figure out his own life and learn how to deal with the longing for his power back. Now Dean just wants the point.

"I'm leaving," Sam admits. "I need to get out for a bit, for myself and for you too."

Sitting quietly for a beat, Dean thinks about it.

"This whole thing isn't good for Lizzy either," Sam further explains. "We put so much on her with our dysfunctional crap that she's falling apart. There's so much she has to deal with and we shouldn't be adding to it. She needs the break as much as we do. I just … I really think it's best I go elsewhere."

Dean nods silently at first before finally saying, "Well, I think you're right."

"I was expecting a fight," Sam says with surprise.

"The truth is, I spend more time worrying about you than about doing the job right," Dean tells Sam truthfully. "And I just, I can't afford that, you know? Not now."

Sam nods his understanding. "I'm sorry, Dean."

"I know you are, Sam." He does. He knows Sam is remorseful for everything.

"Um, make sure you take care of Lizzy," Sam asks of his brother.

"I always do," Dean answers with a little confusion. He never assumed anyone would have to tell him to do that.

"I mean, ask her how she's doing every now and then," Sam explains lightly, remembering the conversation he has with Bobby just yesterday. "She gets so concerned with us that sometimes she puts herself on the backburner. We need to check on her now and then. Make sure she's doing alright."

"She's doing alright," Dean assures, thinking it to be true.

"You're black eye proves that she isn't."

"Yeah.…" Dean's left to think that one over as his brother goes to stand up and Dean stops him, not as ready to let go as he thought he was.

"Hey," he blurts, hoping to get more time. "Do you, uh, wanna take the Impala?"

With a half-smile, Sam refuses. "It's okay." There's no way that was ever going to happen. He stands up all the way and heads towards the car. He turns back once. "Take care of yourself, Dean."

"Yeah, you too, Sammy." Dean's words nearly die on his tongue. This is it. They have to be apart just to live. This whole story seems to be all too familiar as he thinks about the month he spent away from Lizzy. That was necessary as wrong as it felt so maybe this was too. Or maybe this is how it needs to be now….

He watches as Sam grabs his bag out of the open window of their car. Just then Lizzy jogs up to him, having been in the bathroom before now. He can tell by the expression on her face that she already knows what's going on. Sam tells her something and she shakes her head no. He explains a little more to her and Lizzy dives onto him, hugging him tightly and looking so sad. She pulls him down and kisses his cheek before backing away. She wags her finger at him and Dean knows she's threatening him somehow. Probably to make sure he answers his phone when she calls to check on him. Sam smiles and laughs a bit but Lizzy doesn't return that grin. She hugs him one last time, her cheek pressed to his jacket and she looks over at Dean, pleading with her expression, asking him to make it stop. Instead he looks away and avoids her. He only looks back when he hears a tuck drive off to see Lizzy standing alone.

Once Sam's gone, Dean takes a deep breath. It's freeing in an odd way to no longer have Sam around him. He won't worry every second now. They won't fight or disagree about everything. He can focus on his work, his hunts, and never worry about if his brother will take a dark path instead of stay in the light. This is good.

Lizzy sits down at the table next to Dean and leans into him, her head on his shoulder.

"Don't say it, ok?" Dean asks of her in a light tone, more sad than anything else.

"Wasn't gonna say anything," Lizzy tells him truthfully.

"Then that's a first."

Instead of respond to his joke, Lizzy sighs. Sam's gone and it hurts already. And doesn't it figure; like she needed another reason to be worried every damn day of her life.

"You want to just head out?" Dean asks her, leaning forward to see her eyes and make sure the waterworks weren't flowing.

She looks at him, his green eyes actually looking bright for the first time in a long time. Maybe this was good for him after all. "Yeah. Let's go."

Standing first, Dean takes her hand and helps her up. They walk together hand-in-hand to the Impala. They're by themselves now and it's a little weird. At least he still has a partner even if Sam had always been his primary one. She'll do just fine, she always has, but it'll just be different.

Once in the car the new situation feels even stranger. Dean in the driver's seat and Lizzy in the passenger's, it's quiet at first. Grabbing the all-important shoebox, Lizzy fishes out 'Master of Puppets' and pops it in knowingly.

"Shit," Lizzy complains when something dawns on her.

"What?" Dean wonders, thumbs already drumming along to 'Battery'.

"Who the fuck is gonna do all the research now?"

"Oh, that's all you." This is of course followed by a joking punch in the arm from her. It makes him think of how she punched him in the face just yesterday. Maybe she isn't doing so hot on the inside now that he thinks of it, now that Sam pointed that out to him. "Hey, uh… how are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" she asks with confusion.

"Like, you know," Dean points to her head. "Up there, how are you?"

Lizzy's expression starts at shocked and quickly melts into a relieved smile.

"You serious?"

"What? I care," Dean pretends to be slightly offended, even if he knows he shouldn't be at all. He's been selfish. "I want to know how you're holding up through all this. Tell me."

"I was just starting to think you'd never ask, Hot Shot," Lizzy responds with thankful love as they drive off while she lets out her fears, her burdens, and her sadness to him for the first time in a very long time.

* * *

Late at night, his first night away from Dean and Lizzy, really his first night away from his life in general, Sam stirs in bed. It wasn't the most comfortable bed by any means and he never expected it to be. Judging by the condition of the Great Plains Motel sign out front, it'd be old and lumpy. No surprise there. But something makes him wake up. He isn't sure what, but he opens his eyes, sighs with his awake state, and rolls over. That's when he sees her.

"Hey, Iron Giant."

Sam sits up and looks her over. Her long, straight blond hair framing her face and shoulders, she smiles slightly at him. She looks beautiful in the white nightgown she has on as her blue eyes search him over.

"I missed you," she tells him.

"Lou. I'm dreaming." He can't stop looking at her. He's seen her in his dreams so many times, but this time is different. She isn't all over him yet and he's getting a different vibe from her than he normally does. She's patient and sweet.

"Or you're not. What's the difference? I'm here aren't I?" Lou widens her smile.

"I miss you so much," Sam admits as he feels all the progress he made talking to Rina fall away. God damn, she's perfect and just so wonderfully her. He'll never get away from her.

"I know," she sadly returns while reaching over the small space between them to weave her fingers into his. "I miss you too." She sighs loudly while looking in his tired eyes. "What are you doing, Sam?"

"What do you mean?"

"Running away," Lou answers quickly. "Haven't you been down this road before? Running from the life you know that has to be yours."

"No. It's different now."

"Oh really?" Lou smirks expectantly at him.

"Yes, really. Last time I wanted to be normal, when I went to Stamford," Sam tries to explain. "This time I know I'm a freak."

"I've told you before and I'll tell you again, dumb-dumb," Lou scolds him for his outlook. "You are not a freak."

"Even after all I've done?" Sam's painful expression makes Lou's face soften again.

"You were doing what you thought was right," she answers, reaching out and pressing her hand onto his chest over her ring that hangs there. "I'm very proud of you."

"No you're not."

"Have I ever lied to you, ever?" Lou asks, looking hurt to see that he won't accept what she tells him.

"Not once," Sam agrees.

"Then trust me. Sam, you've always known you were different. You knew there was something dark inside of you all along. It was deep down, maybe, but you knew it well."

"No."

"Come on, Sam. Be honest with yourself, please. You felt it years before you knew for sure, when you had those nightmares about Jessica on the ceiling. Sam, she was dead from the minute you said hello to her and you knew it."

"Don't say that," Sam nearly snaps when he looks up at her, shocked by her words.

"Hell, you knew I was going to die, didn't you?"

"What!?" Sam asks, eyes wide.

"You never told me, but you had a dream back when your psychic stuff was showing you visions. I know about that now, about what you saw."

Sam feels a tightening in his chest with what Lou says to him. He recalls the weekend they met, how the last night before Lou and Lizzy left he had a bizarre nightmare with flashes of different scenes. He saw Lou's mouth covered in blood, Lizzy beaten to a pulp at a motel doorstep, and then finally the back of a woman crying over a pit a fire. He knew once it all happened a year later what he'd seen that day, but he kept it to himself. He barely knew those girls and couldn't risk scaring them like that. Also, if Dean knew something was going to happen big like that in Lizzy's life, he would have gone insane and followed them around the country. They didn't have time for that back then. They had their own shit to figure out.

"Don't you get it? This will always keep happening. You can't find love, Sam. You don't get happiness in the way everyone else does. It's somewhere else for you. And you can't keep running from yourself. Why are you running now?"

"Why are you here, Lou?" Sam desperately needs to know. This has not been one of the good dream visits he normally gets from her. This has been awful.

"Would you believe I'm actually trying to protect you?"

"From what?"

"Youself, dummy. Sooner or later the past is going to catch up to you like it always does. You know what happens then?" Sam looks down and Lou places her hand on the side of his face to show her love and support. "People die. Giant, the people closest to you die."

"Don't worry because I won't make that mistake again."

"Same shit, different day. Things are never gonna change with you. Ever."

Sam looks down away from her again, just for a moment of reprieve, and when he looks up, she's gone.

* * *

**THE END**

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to comment on what you read. Good or bad, I can hack it and I appreciate the help you can provide. I will always respond!


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